Ethanol and "New Fuels"

1. What is the problem with global warming? Well, if you're an Inuit, you might need an air conditioner, for starters. (Reuters, March 4, 2007)

2. Bush Seeks Ethanol Alliance With Brazil (AP News, March 4, 2007):

3. But - Is ethanol really the answer? (USA Today, Feb 1, 2006)

The following 2 paragraphs are interesting to note:

"Ethanol yields roughly 26% more energy than it takes to produce it, according to a just-published study by the University of California at Berkeley. That's because corn grows using free sunlight and because farming has gotten very efficient. Gasoline provides only about 84% of the energy required to produce it, the study says.

In fact, a wholesale switch to E85 and other fuels made largely from plants instead of petroleum is a key, early step in a program that could eliminate U.S. gasoline consumption by 2050, according to Nathanael Greene, senior policy analyst at the Natural Resources Defense Council."

4. Finally, to answer the same question: Berkeley Daily Planet article on protestors against the Berkeley BioScience Institute $500 million dollar grant from British Petroleum (Berkeley Daily Planet, March 2, 2007)

***** Useful Info *******

Ethanol: Alcohol made from plants, usually corn in the USA. It's used in alcoholic beverages and is blended with gasoline as fuel for cars and trucks.

Gasohol: Common name for fuel that's 10% ethanol, 90% gasoline. It's widely available and can be used by most vehicles.

E85: Fuel that's 85% ethanol and 15% gasoline. It's available mainly in the Midwest. Only specially equipped vehicles - called flexible-fuel vehicles, or FFVs - can use E85.

Where to find E85
For locations of E85 fuel stations: www.e85fuel.com