Ethanol is made by processing corn. Corn we use to eat. Not only is corn literally in everything we consume, it’s also used in the raising of livestock the world over.
What the subsidy does is allow a corn farmer to sell at a higher price with a safer margin of error because it’s backended by the gubmint.
Now here is the catch...
They are talking about wanting to jump to 15% Ethanol now. E85? I’m sure you’ve heard of this. None of my vehicles can use it, as it will destroy some of the plumbing in older vehicles. (1997 Landcruiser) So that’s kind of a big negative.
But the largest issues is the net-negative to get Ethanol out of the ground.
It takes massive amounts of water irrigation (fresh water) that we literally spend to fill up our vehicles, and the qty of Diesel used to farm the corn adds a huge tax on the ethanol efficiency that no gubmint report includes. oops...
If you’d like to know more:
http://www.naturalnews.com/029076_ethanol_fuel.html
And a VERY good article comparing various ethanols...
http://techfarm.blogspot.com/2008/05/efficiency-of-ethanol-is-it-worth.html
Ethanol was a gift to the farmers, and has been a massive sham on the American public.
End subsidies... end them now!
OPEC is just screwing the world right now, they have turned down production yet the speculators are driving the cost.
Fix the issue... Drill... Drill NOW, and use every form of energy you can without subsidy. Fast track research into Thorium reactors, and start building Nuclear plants.
Thats my take. :) YMMV
E85 is 85% Ethanol ... (E for ethanol, 85 for 85%).