Filed under: Ethanol
Ethanol Motor Day at the Indy 500. Secretary Bodman's comments
Last Thursday was Ethanol Motor Day at the Indy Motor Speedway. Ethanol promoters gave away thousands of dollars to the day's fastest car and Secretary of Energy Samuel Bodman paid a visit to the track. The transcript of the Secretary's visit is now available online.Bodman is unsurprisingly upbeat about ethanol's place in America's energy future. He said he expects ethanol production to increase to 5 million barrels a day in 19 years (following the President's plan) and says that will make up a quarter of America's 20-million barrel a day oil use. He doesn't mention that it's almost impossible that we'll still be using only 20 million barrels a day in 19 years. Bodman even kind of praises Brazil's state-mandated investment in sugar-cane ethanol 30 years ago, and admits America's marker-based system meant we came a little slow to the party, even though we now produce more ethanol than Brazil does.
[Source: Indy500]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
David Raynor 8:40PM (5/15/2006)
Ethanol, in its current form, is NOT going to save America. Not when we're STILL paying 8 to 12.00 a gallon for it in the stores.
E-85 fuel costs more at the pump and delivers less miles per gallon and horsepower than straight gasoline.
The REASON we have high fuel prices is because as a nation we're using less today than ever before. In the 60's, cars got 8 to 12mpg and no one cared. The cars of today AVERAGE about 23mpg and though there is more of them on the road, the fuel consumption overall is less.
The basic law of supply and demand is one that you CAN NOT CHANGE. Unless of course, your part of the petroleum institute.
With all of the devistation in the Gulf and so much production and pumping destroyed, why are we NOT paying 8.00 a gallon at the pump? Its because prices have been artifically overinflated for YEARS and no one noticed. It took a major disaster to shine light on the truth, but still FEW are noticing.
--David T. Raynor, Long Island, NY.
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