This is asanine.
Quit characterizing ethanol as progression. Why would the path of technological advancement follow replacing a 120 year old hydrocarbon technology with a less efficient even older hydrocarbon technology?
I believe that is part of the point in this article. Don't characterize waste disposal as energy creation. One is and always be an expense center. If you want to offset expenses fine, but to try and join the energy industry via fiat is an entirely different matter. The whole industry is simply robbing the public through the tax rolls and legislative market intrusions. The opportunity costs of pursuing Ethanol are outrageous.
Then there is this:
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2003/08/19/eveningnews/main569133.shtml
-- lates
-- jrawk
Did I say ethanol?
Did I say federal subsidies?
With gasoline pushing $3 a gallon, the market changes.
Ag fuel is in our future. Not because of govenment mandate or program, simply dollars and cents.
If you think that disposal is always an expense, you do not understand the market dynamics in the petro-chemical industry. Products that were once waste are now feedstock because of economy. As a result, they are a much cleaner industry.