11-01-2007, 01:36 PM
The majority of the negative things said about ethanol really isn’t about the fuel, it's about the fuel supply and production.
In the US, ethanol isn't a take it or leave it fuel. FlexFuel vehicles can start using gasoline and as and when supplies are available at the right price, people start switching over. There’s no immediate demand to supply E85 to all the FlexFuel vehicles on the roads since many are using regular gasoline. As farmers start producing ethanol production plants, the fuel is made and becomes available. There are no demand problems, thus no need to plant sugar cane in cemeteries or cut down western forest to meet the demand.
In South America, it's often all or nothing. People have to use ethanol because gasoline is so expensive, not available, or their cars aren't FlexFuel. But the ability to produce the product to make ethanol still lags in some areas resulting in deforestation as land is cleared to grow ethanol producing products. But as more and more farmers realize they don't need to plant crops for export to the US, and begin switching to ethanol crops, the amount of land cleared will subside. It's the old thing, if you have 1,000 acres you’ve always planted with lettuce, and 900 of those acres are for export, although you can plant a crop for use in ethanol, it takes time for an established farmer to make that changeover. Since the ethanol crop is needed now, some one is going to clear land just to plant it. As the established farmer moves those 900 acres of export land to domestic ethanol production, land clearing won't be necessary. Remember that ethanol consumption literally exploded overnight in SA. The drawback is the US fruit and vegetable market will run into shortages as framers realize why am I planting something that yields $75 an acre for export to the United States when I can change over to a product needed domestically and get $125 and acre? And since the domestic product is for fuel production and not human consumption, I have fewer problems.
In the US, ethanol isn't a take it or leave it fuel. FlexFuel vehicles can start using gasoline and as and when supplies are available at the right price, people start switching over. There’s no immediate demand to supply E85 to all the FlexFuel vehicles on the roads since many are using regular gasoline. As farmers start producing ethanol production plants, the fuel is made and becomes available. There are no demand problems, thus no need to plant sugar cane in cemeteries or cut down western forest to meet the demand.
In South America, it's often all or nothing. People have to use ethanol because gasoline is so expensive, not available, or their cars aren't FlexFuel. But the ability to produce the product to make ethanol still lags in some areas resulting in deforestation as land is cleared to grow ethanol producing products. But as more and more farmers realize they don't need to plant crops for export to the US, and begin switching to ethanol crops, the amount of land cleared will subside. It's the old thing, if you have 1,000 acres you’ve always planted with lettuce, and 900 of those acres are for export, although you can plant a crop for use in ethanol, it takes time for an established farmer to make that changeover. Since the ethanol crop is needed now, some one is going to clear land just to plant it. As the established farmer moves those 900 acres of export land to domestic ethanol production, land clearing won't be necessary. Remember that ethanol consumption literally exploded overnight in SA. The drawback is the US fruit and vegetable market will run into shortages as framers realize why am I planting something that yields $75 an acre for export to the United States when I can change over to a product needed domestically and get $125 and acre? And since the domestic product is for fuel production and not human consumption, I have fewer problems.