Ethanol plants have been erected in the midwest and have been promoted heavily through Federal subsidies. Is ethanol biofuel a significant contender in alternative energy?

In our nation’s quest for energy independence ethanol is being proposed as an important component, that is a tough argument though.

Common sense is common sense, why are we using farm lands to make fuel for automobiles? There is still plenty of oil in the Earth, and plenty of room for improvements in efficiency and renewable energy technologies.

Ethanol has been driving up food prices by competing with the grains market. Farmers deserve to earn good money there is no question. That the gasoline market is competing with our fundamental food production capability, however, brings a good argument.

Another disadvantage of ethanol biofuel is the lower amount of combustive energy. It’s energy density is only 60% of gasoline (HHV = 12,700 BTU/lb vs. 20,500 BTU/lb), and so pound for pound doesn’t deliver the same amount of useful energy.

One could envision ethanol being used to heat homes and make hot water, but that is not currently it’s marketed use.

Maybe the final blow against ethanol biofuel is that, unlike solar power, wind power, and other alternative energy systems, it is not tapping a source of free energy (unless it is derived from agricultural waste). When one considers the energy consumed in the planting, harvesting, processing, and refining of the grains then ethanol is actually quite expensive as a fuel. It has almost half the energy of diesel or gasoline, and similar amounts of production costs.

In total, ethanol production as practiced today is not as valuable of an alternative energy as some would have us believe. Advanced technologies that generate biofuel from agricultural wastes, on the other hand, is an excellent idea and could prove useful in years to come. It falls in the realm of alternative energy, but in the current way used it is not tapping a free source of energy.

To learn more about ethanol biofuel you can get more info and a free report at this solar energy website.