Topic: The Future of Ethanol...

[USAF]

As some of you may know, ethanol talk has boomed in the US within the last few months. But, how far are we advancing in our quest for alternative fuels for our vehicles by using ethanol? Ethanol is much less efficient although it does combust much cleaner than gasoline or diesel fuel and pretty much it's only upside is the fact that it is a renewable source of energy. Overall, I don't see much of a future in ethanol in the US though it has proved to work effectively in Brazil. What are some of your thoughts?

[piersdad]

Unless ethanol comes from oil distilation or some sort of chemistry it has to come from bio mass.
this will compete with the food growing industry so both food and transport will be competing with the same  arable land.

  We had an ethanol producing plant here locally but they had to be able to get raw materials at a very low price.
  These things were scraps from the food industry and un used crop material.
how ever the pig farming industry saw this waste of materials  and moved in to adsorb all the food industry scraps and other  crop material and thus the price of ethanol raw materials rose to an un economic price and they eventually shut down.

There will be a place for ethanol but it will be only where there is a place in the local  industry to produce it economically and as petrol costs rise then this could be soner than later

[USAF]

Very true, back in the US the midwest is the only region that produces ethanol in large quantities since corn is readily available.