The Brazilian asks, "why corn?"
Posed by our Brazilian friend:
I just read an interesting article (in Portuguese, I'm sorry) comparing the sugar cane alcohol (biodiesel) produced and used in Brazil and the one produce in the US based on corn.
Bottomline: the sugar cane alcohol is cheaper to produce (R$ 0.35 per liter vs R$ 0.82 per liter), and not only that but the sugar cane alcohol production is about 500% more efficient than using corn.
The article is here if you want to try and babelfish-it...
http://tinyurl.com/q4tmy
Now, all that said, more than 30% of the sales of cars in the country are now bi-combustible ones (Gas and alcohol).
The same manufacturers producing these cars in Brazil exist in the US. Chevrolet, Ford, Volkswagen...
Why isn't sugar cane the actual option people are discussing, instead of corn? It is a renewable source, burns clean, performs reasonably well, and even if sugar cane can't be produced here, it could be imported cheap from several tropical nations - including Africa, which would help those nations get up on their feet.
Why the discussion is kept on corn?
----------------------------------------------------------------------
ZadPolBlog response:
Why keep the discussion on corn? Duh, because it wouldn't be a viable solution. Remember the correlation between election poll results and the terror alert levels? The motivation is distraction, not solutions.
There is a GREAT motivation to keep us on foreign oil. There are occasional distraction sound bites sent out to the contrary, but the forces at work are firmly entrenched in power. The free market is NOT allowed to operate in this area, and besides, a real solution needs focus like a Manhattan Project or TVA. Current leadership is not interested in the long-term health of the populace.
The corn talk around here is for producing ethanol, not biodiesel, AFAIK. To me this sounds like a fine experiment and area to explore, has modest potential benefit, but is not a solution. Neither is sugar cane in this climate. There are other crops that would make much more sense and need less tending because they're weeds, not higher-maintenance grass like corn. Plus, this doesn't have to be done exclusively on a industrial farm scale. Just like farmers bring their loads to large, central grain elevator, anyone with land should be able to grow these weed crops on part of their land and exchange them for energy. That would work, but requires central organization. I could imagine a leader like Gore having the guts to initiate this, but clearly not the sludge currently in power. Instead we get tax breaks for Hummers, tax subsidies to big oil companies despite their record-setting profits and reduced emission and mileage standards for frivolous SUVs.
There is great potential in used veggie oil to create homebrewed biodiesel as a partial solution. There can be industrial digester to turn slaughterhouse and other bio waste (or infected animals instead of feeding their matter to healthy animals) into hydrocarbons that can also be used in diesel engines.
There is also a solution in the works - cold fusion. Like Kyoto, you can imagine what the motivation for pulling the US out of that was.
Remember, most large cities in this country had streetcars. They were efficient and cost-effective for cities. One by one, they were (almost) all ripped out due to the purchase of politicians by oil and rubber companies. We're still suffering the consequences of that, and the oil companies are stronger than ever to the point where they can effectively get the US Army deployed just to secure more reserves to further increase their profits.
I just read an interesting article (in Portuguese, I'm sorry) comparing the sugar cane alcohol (biodiesel) produced and used in Brazil and the one produce in the US based on corn.
Bottomline: the sugar cane alcohol is cheaper to produce (R$ 0.35 per liter vs R$ 0.82 per liter), and not only that but the sugar cane alcohol production is about 500% more efficient than using corn.
The article is here if you want to try and babelfish-it...
http://tinyurl.com/q4tmy
Now, all that said, more than 30% of the sales of cars in the country are now bi-combustible ones (Gas and alcohol).
The same manufacturers producing these cars in Brazil exist in the US. Chevrolet, Ford, Volkswagen...
Why isn't sugar cane the actual option people are discussing, instead of corn? It is a renewable source, burns clean, performs reasonably well, and even if sugar cane can't be produced here, it could be imported cheap from several tropical nations - including Africa, which would help those nations get up on their feet.
Why the discussion is kept on corn?
----------------------------------------------------------------------
ZadPolBlog response:
Why keep the discussion on corn? Duh, because it wouldn't be a viable solution. Remember the correlation between election poll results and the terror alert levels? The motivation is distraction, not solutions.
There is a GREAT motivation to keep us on foreign oil. There are occasional distraction sound bites sent out to the contrary, but the forces at work are firmly entrenched in power. The free market is NOT allowed to operate in this area, and besides, a real solution needs focus like a Manhattan Project or TVA. Current leadership is not interested in the long-term health of the populace.
The corn talk around here is for producing ethanol, not biodiesel, AFAIK. To me this sounds like a fine experiment and area to explore, has modest potential benefit, but is not a solution. Neither is sugar cane in this climate. There are other crops that would make much more sense and need less tending because they're weeds, not higher-maintenance grass like corn. Plus, this doesn't have to be done exclusively on a industrial farm scale. Just like farmers bring their loads to large, central grain elevator, anyone with land should be able to grow these weed crops on part of their land and exchange them for energy. That would work, but requires central organization. I could imagine a leader like Gore having the guts to initiate this, but clearly not the sludge currently in power. Instead we get tax breaks for Hummers, tax subsidies to big oil companies despite their record-setting profits and reduced emission and mileage standards for frivolous SUVs.
There is great potential in used veggie oil to create homebrewed biodiesel as a partial solution. There can be industrial digester to turn slaughterhouse and other bio waste (or infected animals instead of feeding their matter to healthy animals) into hydrocarbons that can also be used in diesel engines.
There is also a solution in the works - cold fusion. Like Kyoto, you can imagine what the motivation for pulling the US out of that was.
Remember, most large cities in this country had streetcars. They were efficient and cost-effective for cities. One by one, they were (almost) all ripped out due to the purchase of politicians by oil and rubber companies. We're still suffering the consequences of that, and the oil companies are stronger than ever to the point where they can effectively get the US Army deployed just to secure more reserves to further increase their profits.
posted by zblog at
1:52 PM
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