3 ms·

Imagine thinking corn ethanol is even remotely a good idea…

• SoftTalker 3y ago
  It probably sounds like a great idea if you are a senator or congressman from a midwestern state.
• _aavaa_ 3y ago
  I'd appreciate if you at least tried to keep a non-condescending tone. I was merely stating why cellulosic ethanol is not the major source of biofuel; because corn is heavily subsidized and produces a cheaper product, hence nobody wants to buy the more expensive product. That's not a technical problem, it's an economic one. And the subsidies where to change we would see less from corn and more from other sources.
  • _hypx 3y ago
    Government subsidized corn ethanol is an environmental disaster. If you hear it being brought up, you automatically assume the person is either confused or working for the corn lobby. Cellulosic ethanol is an idea brought up as a solution to the problems of corn ethanol. Ironically, by the George W. Bush administration. Unfortunately, nothing has materialized in any meaningful quantity. And FYI, they’d be subsidizing it heavily if any meaningful quantity of cellulosic ethanol could be produced. So bringing up that part doesn’t mean much. But cellulosic ethanol production never happened and so far there is no reason to believe it is possible.
    • _aavaa_ 3y ago
      > And FYI, they’d be subsidizing it heavily if any meaningful quantity of cellulosic ethanol could be produced. I'm not so sure. That would introduce competition for the corn ethanol, and there's a fairly large constituency (those having their corn production subsidised) that would oppose this kind of measure.
      • _hypx 3y ago
        The corn lobby are huge advocates for cellulosic ethanol because it means corn stover could also be made into ethanol.