12% plus or minus of our liquid fuel is ethanol. It is the preferred octane booster. Engines that can use ethanol can also use methanol. Methanol can be produced from coal our most plentiful form of energy AND cleanly. Every large quantity is important. We produce that 12% and have too much food if the American waistline is any indication.
Besides no one figures into their cost formulas for ethanol that once the alcohol is produced the grain doesn’t disappear. It is perfectly viable feed for cattle with everything remaining except the sugar. Protein and other nutrients are just fine.
There is no good argument against ethanol. National security and farmers are right. Doctrinaire textbook conservatives haven’t even begun to factor in the blood and treasure we have spent on the middle east.
Thank God for the rural, religious American farmer
Wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong. 3-methyl-heptane is the preferred octane booster. Ethanol is an inferior fuel. It costs more than gasoline, and it provides less energy.
People who use 90/10 gasoline/ethanol mixes get less miles per gallon than those who run 100% gasoline. And on top of that, ethanol attracts water, which means that it cannot be shipped via pipeline and must be transported over road by tanker trucks. It also damages engines.