Bigthink - Idea Comments Feed

Comment on: Re: Is ethanol overhyped?

Bigthink — Thu, 29 May 2008 05:33:28 +0100

Aside from driving up food prices, as Kucinich mentioned, here are some other problems I foresee with ethanol:

- Not carbon dioxide neutral
- Cross pollination poisons other corn crops
- Consumes more fossil fuels than it provides
- Does not provide enough fuel, even at maximum theoretical production

Also, considering that much of the ethanol hype comes from the corporations that sell us conventional oil, there is good reason to be very suspicious.

Comment on: Re: Is ethanol overhyped?

Bigthink — Fri, 01 Feb 2008 23:26:15 +0100

It takes more nonrenewable energy to make corn ethanol than what we get out of it. Clearly ethanol is not a long-term solution to our global problem.

Comment on: Re: Is ethanol overhyped?

Bigthink — Tue, 29 Jan 2008 01:25:47 +0100

Anybody that venture to alternative energy and technology website will see great things being achieved by individuals and small company alike, imagine if sufficient R&D funds where funnel toward real sustainability instead of creating and marketing another half bake solution fuel by profits, the technology is there I'm not sure about the will of the main players.

Comment on: Re: Is ethanol overhyped?

Bigthink — Mon, 21 Jan 2008 11:39:20 +0100

Progressive nuclear technology research has been poorly supported by the US government. Right now there is an enormous number of insecure nuclear waste repositories all over the US just waiting to be attacked, and a large number of them area leaking. This waste needs to be dealt with and we didnt put the work into the research when we first knew it was going to be a problem. If Yucca mountain is approved, by the time we can begin moving the waste there we will already have WAY more than it could store at max capacity, and it's chance of being approved aren't very good. Nuclear energy has the potential to generate enough electricity to replace and enormous chuck (>30%) of our greenhouse gas contribution and should not be dismissed out of hand. Reactors are safer than ever before and the safety record in the US is good enough that I would feel comfortable living within a few miles of one (assuming they were not storing the waste on site beneath a few feet of water in a man-made pond which is frequently the case). I have no intention of discounting the issues relating to waste disposal, they are extremely serious. What I do know is that research into nuclear waste disposal facilities has been poorly supported and that is a MAJOR mistake, the need for new federal funding initiatives into ALL types of energy research are of the utmost importance.

Comment on: Re: Is ethanol overhyped?

Bigthink — Mon, 21 Jan 2008 03:34:23 +0100

This article focusses on one major good point. Why do we keep marching down the wrong path creating more destruction to the environment.
Thanks John Howard, we in Australia have been set back on the environmental movement for 11 years.
Nuclear is not the answer! (yes a lot of people & companies have money invested in this which could keep the issue on the table). People fail to recognise the start up energy required for a nuclear reactor, then the maintenance, then the rebuilding of newer plants when technology becomes obsolete. The dumping of nuclear waste is a joke (anywhere this is dumped it could be fractured open & contaminate huge populations & areas of land). But hey lets help terrorists get access to atomic waste & strap it to their rocket launchers they bought of the US. Stupid stuff.
Every house/land area, transport system, factory etc could be feeding energy back to the power grid. We have the technology but as usual the money controls the majority outcomes. When will things change drastically.

Comment on: Re: Is ethanol overhyped?

Bigthink — Mon, 21 Jan 2008 01:21:20 +0100

So true, but really how is the result of this changing. This sounds like in April of 1995 when reduction was on the the table. Same fight, same tune, not much change since when...sir.

Comment on: Re: Is ethanol overhyped?

Bigthink — Sun, 20 Jan 2008 12:18:10 +0100

Ethanol from corn consumes a ton of energy to produce and transport..most farm equipment still powered by deisel. It is not as efficient as fossil fuels and the cost is already affecting food prices. We have a choice in whether we drive or not...food is a different story and affects many more people. No more band-aids..new ideas, nuclear and hydro need to be readressed in a meaningful way.

Comment on: Re: Is ethanol overhyped?

Bigthink — Sun, 20 Jan 2008 06:35:16 +0100

Corn-derived ethanol seems like a quick fix to our energy demands. I favor clean renewable energy. That's where our money should be spent.

Comment on: Re: Is ethanol overhyped?

Bigthink — Sun, 20 Jan 2008 02:20:39 +0100

Grow hemp instead, Heaps more ethanol and It will grow in places corn wont. But yeah move to electric cars! Have you seen how well they perform now. Imagine if NASA was onto it. *HELLO*

Comment on: Re: Is ethanol overhyped?

Bigthink — Fri, 18 Jan 2008 19:39:30 +0100

I don't know if ethanol is the best fuel but I know it's better than oil. Maybe ethanol could be used as fuel as well as food.

Comment on: Re: Is ethanol overhyped?

Bigthink — Fri, 18 Jan 2008 05:09:00 +0100

Kucinich hasn't really outlined the alternative to ethanol biofuel here, unless you count his promise of increased funding to mass transit systems. Even though this is important, we still need an alternative to oil however Kucinich has only mentioned alternatives to coal. That is unless he considers that these solutions can be applied to transport through full-electric or plug-in hybrid cars

Comment on: Re: Is ethanol overhyped?

Bigthink — Thu, 17 Jan 2008 04:45:08 +0100

Not that it would kill the whole idea, but the cellulosic ethanol, produced from prairie grasses, that was mentioned above is not without cost. To be economically feasible those grasses must often be grown in very dense stands. Such densely packed fields create poor habitat for many grassland wildlife species. This include grassland songbirds, many of which are undergoing severe population declines.

Comment on: Re: Is ethanol overhyped?

Bigthink — Thu, 17 Jan 2008 01:15:36 +0100

Ya'll want to run your cars on moonshine? Thats CRAZY!

Comment on: Re: Is ethanol overhyped?

Bigthink — Wed, 16 Jan 2008 21:53:33 +0100

Corn ethanol is not right, but cellulosic ethanol is the future. Soon we will be able to make cheap, efficient ethanol from common prairie grasses such as switchgrass, as well as wood chips and agricultural waste. Also, nuclear is not the answer because it relies heavily on government subsidies.

Comment on: Re: Is ethanol overhyped?

Bigthink — Wed, 16 Jan 2008 19:46:05 +0100

Nuclear Power is the key to future. Nuclear power is clean and not harmful at all. There is a small nuclear power plant in the middle of my campus. No harmful radiation or anything. The waste of nuclear power can be placed underground in the mountain ranges in Nevada (forget the name of the exact mountain). Nuclear power is safe, clean, and by far the most efficient electricity producer.

Comment on: Re: Is ethanol overhyped?

Bigthink — Wed, 16 Jan 2008 06:11:15 +0100

Kucinich is right. Ethanol is not the answer because it is not clean. Carbon dioxide is still released when it is burned. It does nothing to help stabilize carbon dioxide levels. The only solution is clean energy technologies (i.e Solar, Wind). Consider this: more sunlight strikes the earth in 1.5 hours than is used on the earth in 1 year. We need to tap this resource as it is the most abundant energy source we have and most of all clean, no carbon dioxide or other greenhouse gas emissions.

Comment on: Re: Is ethanol overhyped?

Bigthink — Thu, 10 Jan 2008 23:52:27 +0100

Another attempt to get farm votes! Not a good use of land, fertilizer and waste of fuel to produce ethanol.

Comment on: Re: Is ethanol overhyped?

Bigthink — Thu, 10 Jan 2008 05:45:22 +0100

I agree with Dennis Kucinick to a point, but i agree more with MiddleClassAmerican. I believe we will have to use Wind / Solar / and Nuclear to break our dependence on oil

Comment on: Re: Is ethanol overhyped?

Bigthink — Wed, 09 Jan 2008 20:44:44 +0100

I agree with Dennis Kucinich. However, we need to also use nuclear power. Americans have to get used to more nuclear power plants. Build and run properly nuclear power should also be used to remove our dependence on oil.