But when you consider the cost of transporting the stuff, which must be done by
truck because it's too corrosive to be put through pipelines, and the 10-20
percent decrease in mileage it results in when blended with gasoline, it's a
definite negative.
Corn simply ain't the answer. Now, sugar cane or switchgrass, that's a whole
'nother thing. But since those don't grow all that well in the midwest, the
for-sale political powers there are way more likely to fight than switch. They
know which side of the ear the butter's on and how to hand onto guv'mint
subsidies in exchange for their support of the current crop of miscreants.
Luckily, in these backwards hinterlands down here, we aren't afflicted with
ethanol. Around here, about the only thing we make out of corn, after eating a
few ross'in ears ourselves and feeding the livestock, is good, clear whiskey.
Folks in the midwest might be well advised to follow our example. We seem to be
a lot happier, and corn liquor is worth a lot more per gallon, takes less
energy to make -- thank goodness -- and will take you to places ethanol won't.
;-]
Walt, inebriated old Tennessee hillbilly stuck in Georgia
--
"Anything more than 500 yards from
the car just isn't photogenic." --
Edward Weston
-------------- Original message ----------------------
From: AG Schnozz <agschnozz@xxxxxxxxx>
> > It's the same boondoggle as with ethanol: consumes more energy
> > than it saves....
>
> Um, well, not quite. Sorry, I've got to disagree with you on
> that one. The numbers used by the opponants are a little biased
> and also discount that byproducts of the process are used for
> feed. Also, they suppose average per-acre production rates of
> states like Wyoming and not of the primary corn production
> states like Iowa, Illinois and Indiana where the per-acre rate
> is the stuff legends are made of. That said, there is a
> chicken-egg operation about 12 miles from where I work that
> sucks up almost every kernal of corn for about 2500 Square
> miles. That matches and exceeds any ethanol plant in the state.
> There is one hog operation upstate that absorbs even more. The
> small mom-and-pop farms are producing 20,000+ hogs per year.
>
> Just to illustrate the production rates, there are farms right
> around here that this year are planting corn in 8" rows. (plant
> density is 2") Expected yields (as we enter harvest season) on
> some of these pilot farms is looking between 400-500 per acre.
> We won't talk about the chemicals needed for that kind of
> production though.
>
> If you used the same numbers to justify your opposition to
> ethanol, you'd probably have to pay $5 per dozen eggs and $15
> per pound for beef or pork.
>
> AG-living in Iowa-Schnozz
>
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