I just returned from a trip to TEXAS (something about the state demands all caps), home of the oil industry. My very first impression driving out of the airport was that they have some dang big roads out there and lots of ‘em. A small plane could land in downtown Austin. Driving along those big roads of course, are big cars (not that TEXAS has a monopoly on these gas-guzzlin’ behemoths).
So what do I see on the front page of the St. Pete Times this morning? A very interesting article about ethanol as an alternative to gas. I immediately thought of corn. I seem to remember a movement to make fuel from corn, and as it turns out, ethanol from corn is still being produced. But much to my surprise, you can make ethanol from other stuff too. In Brazil, it’s made from sugar cane. Most of the cars these days in Brazil accept ethanol or gas or any mix of the two — called flex fuel. And ethanol is way cheaper than gas. The Times article has more about ethanol use in the United States.
Then you might muse as I did about Florida using sugar cane for ethanol. Sounds good, but I worry about any additional negative ecological impact. A short google search led me to a research project being conducted by the USDA in Winter Haven. There’s much better idea is afoot — using orange peels to make ethanol. Think of all the orange peel that must get generated here in the Sunshine State. Imagine turning that waste into fuel. I love it! I hope it works.
tim
4 years ago
corn ethanol is useless. Corn just doesn’t have enough energy to make it worth extracting. Sugar, yes. (Feed your kid corn chips, then feed them candy, and see which makes them hyper). However, our government is so in love with Iowa corn farmers (mainly due to their role in presidential politics) that we continue to bend over for corn ethanol, even though it costs so much to extract.
wendy
4 years ago
Very interesting and not very surprising, Tim. The article about orange peels is a year old and I haven’t heard anything else about orange peel ethanol in the past year. Maybe the corn growers caught wind of the plan and whispered into somebody’s ear.
UR
4 years ago
Yet another poorly reported story in the Times. Ethanol is cheap in Brazil because of government subsidy, not because it is cheap to produce. One recent study from UC Berkeley shows in many cases ethanol production uses up more (fossil fuel) energy than it creates.
wendy
4 years ago
But the study you mention factored in the costs associated with the crop’s production and they only looked at a few biomass sources such as corn. Orange peels are a waste product here in Florida — maybe if you only factor in the costs associated with making the ethanol, it would still be cheap. Just a thought. Of course, if the world quits drinking oj, we’d be right back where we started.
UR
4 years ago
You are correct, oh brilliant Wendy! Hence the “many cases” qualifier. My point is that “Florida’s Best Newspaper” has yet again embarassed itself with a sloppy Page One story.
wendy
4 years ago
What? Something was incorrect in the newspaper? Next you’ll tell me that there’s no Santa Claus. Who are you, UR, and have you ever actually been to the North Pole?
Sticks of Fire: a Tampa blog » headline added later
4 years ago
[...] I’ll take the same test. 1. No Author Biographies [fail] [...]
Lou Ortiz
3 years ago
O.K. about “ethanol” where can you buy it in the Tampa area ? Thanks !
Sticks of Fire: a Tampa blog » no ethanol for you
3 years ago
[...] Reader & commenter Lou asked us if we know where to find any ethanol stations in the Tampa Bay area. We assume Lou was inquiring about E85 – a fuel comprised of 85% ethanol, which seems to be the most likely mix, and some cars can already use. [...]
Kip
3 years ago
Maybe you people should educate yourselves with real information about ethanol instead of propoganda published by “Oil thugs”. Get a clue….Make your own ethanol.