Randy writes: The decision to add ethanol made from corn to our gasoline, may turn out to be a huge mistake made by our decision makers who some say should know better. The negative effects of mixing ethanol with gasoline are numerous, and the effect of using corn to make fuel puts our food security at a terrible risk.
First of all, the production of ethanol is being subsidized by the Federal Government. It is not a profitable enterprise for the producers any other way. Corn prices, due to this effort have risen dramatically and now corn sells for $3.50 per bushel. This leaves a profit margin for the makers of ethanol that is very very small.
If corn goes higher, the ethanol producers will need a bigger subsidy to continue operation or go out of business. So, your tax dollars are being used to make a fuel that if one investigates properly, should never be mixed with gasoline.
Ethanol and gasoline are not compatible. Ethanol absorbs water and produces a gummy build up on lawn mower engines and marine engines, leading to bent push rods on marine engines and poor performance in lawn mowers. Close engine tolerances built into newer lawn mowers are causing many to pay for repairs due to the gummy build up on some engine parts. Imagine, what this is doing to your car! Ethanol also attacks rubber hoses and can cause them to leak.
Fiberglass fuel tanks present a whole set of problems. When the ethanol is introduced to the fuel tank, the small ethanol molecules diffuse into the pores of the fiberglass in such a way as to react with the fiberglass partially dissolving the fiberglass and decomposition takes place. Hence, the gummy build up on engine parts occurs.
Prices for everything corn fed and using corn as an ingredient have gone way up. In your local grocery stores, there is already a noticeable and steady rise of food prices. In Mexico, corn tortillas have gone up in price 14% in only one year and many people in Mexico are feeling the pinch to their food budget. This is partly due to ethanol production in the U.S.
Animals usually fed corn, like catfish, cattle, pigs, and chickens are costing more at the grocery store because the corn usually fed to these animals is being used to make ethanol and are hence higher in price. In fact, all food prices are rising dramatically directly linked to ethanol production.
Fuel prices have not come down, and food prices continue to rise. This is truly an unfair trade off and we are replacing one set of problems for another set of bigger problems. If we continue to expand ethanol production, it will adversely effect everyone in the United States, making food for the poor a luxury, and they will begin to go hungry. The middle class will be inconvenienced, but will just have to adjust.
The only group who will benefit from ethanol production are the producers who receive the government handouts in the name of energy security. This is a policy that will make us less secure, not more. Everyone else gets a big zero
The introduction of ethanol to our gasoline was mandated into law by the U.S Government and could be one of the biggest mistakes ever made by those who decide for us what course to set for our energy security. This is simply, the wrong way to go. If our leaders want true energy security, they will need to invest in new forms of energy, form alliances with other nations for free trade, and invest in the promise of advanced nanotechnology. Any other path leads us to a dead end.
Now, we are on the verge of making fuel from animal fat. This is a further insult to those who eat beans and lard just to survive from day to day, along with their corn tortillas.
Soon, we may be making ethanol from grass, and this will ultimately be the last straw. There must be a better choice than this. Making fuel from animal fat is silly, almost as silly as listing the oil in teenagers' faces to the petroleum reserves. This just makes no sense at all and is a monumental mistake.
I hope that our leaders will turn their attention elsewhere. Perhaps, they will begin to take zero point energy more seriously as I advise, but they may already have their minds made up. What a bad call and a good way to lose the ball game!
Ralph Randolph Sawyer
