Bio-fuel is full of fail

[Mitera Nikkou]

I don't like bio-fuel for several reasons: one, it consumes potential food supplies; two, ethanol isn't near good enough of a substitute, to any degree, for gasoline; three, it's being propelled by those who want to make a buck; four, it's not good for the soil where the crops are used as a resource for ethanol; and five, the difference in price and return is too great to be a sustainable idea, since the amount of crops required for an ethanol-dominated future would be sheer lunacy, if outright impossible.

[Haylie]

CURSE YOU AND YOUR BLATANT LACK OF COP-OUT CHOICES!

I'm gonna hafta agree. And I'm not sucking up, either.

[ZeroForever]

it's a start but it's not gonna be a replacement at least with the current technology.

kinda mixed as the entire thing is still fairly new.

[Mitera Nikkou]

No cop out answers because the information is easy enough to come by and I think the situation critical enough to take it seriously. We'd be better off using more wind energy, even though those have difficulties of their own (aside from finding reliable areas to harness wind). Bio-fuel is a propaganda that must be stopped because it's not just stupid, but it's such a bad alternative and accrues a higher price than gasoline.

Argh... I want to be able to make my invention and solve this problem. -_-

[Mendi-chan]

Amount of ethanol fuel to fill a SUV (made from grain) = Enough grain to feed an average adult male for 1 year.

-_-" Yeah... Bio-fuel is a dandy idea, but it ends up not being very practical.

[Mitera Nikkou]

And right now, for every gallon of ethanol made, more gasoline is used to make it. Makes a lot of sense. It'd make even less sense to use ethanol to make ethanol, because then you'd need to use even more ethanol because it's not as proficient as gasoline. So, in the end, we're not doing anything about our dependence on oil as far as ethanol's concerned. It requires gasoline right now, so our ethanol craze is going to continue to fuel our need for oil. Switching to using ethanol to make more ethanol would be just about the stupidest thing ever, since how much more is needed in production would eventually mean that the amount of ethanol available will always be in decline. Ethanol wouldn't have a peak. No matter how much we would produce it simply requires more of it than gasoline to reach our needs.

[Helel]

So for the sake of being constructive, what alternatives are there out there besides using oil, oil, and more oil to make our energy?

Ethanol fuel is a blend of ethanol and octane, hydrogen fuel cells are generally made from methane, most other methods such as solar cells provide insufficient energy for our 'needs', leaving us where?

For what I see of ethanol fuel, it'll never be a replacement gasoline fuel, especially for cars. It's a step though, regardless. Much like hybrid vehicles- they don't seem to have much point, at least not financially, but they're steps in a good direction, hopefully. Not necessarily the 'right' ones, but they're steps at least.

[Mitera Nikkou]

I'll make the alternative energy source one day. Mwa-ha-ha!

I just got some more supplies, so I'll be testing my idea in a few days. And if it doesn't work, then I have another idea to try, along the same vein.

I will be the future! Rejoice!