AutoblogGreen

The whole Ethanol thing sounds too good to be true - and you mark my words: The big Oil Companies will NOT let it be sold for the long term in the USA, as it will quickly cut into their already outrageous profits. They know Ethanol is a cleaner, more economical solution for fuel in this country, but alas, the Oil Conglomerates have WAAAAY too many gazillions of dollars at stake to let someone come into the picture and steal a penny of their profits. They will come out with every Ethanol-caused accident, situation or problem from it (like Gasoline is so safe!! HA!) and they'll eventually scare the public so badly (as we're 99% sheep, don't forget!) and Ethanol will no longer be an option in America before it even gets started. You watch and remember you read it here first: Ethanol will NOT survive. Thanks again for NOTHING, Oil Companies. :(

Reply

Interesting that you would think so, Joe. Ethanol is Politically Correct, and has the paid-for votes of most of the Midwest, so the best plan for "Big Oil" is to jump on the bandwagon and get Their Share.

Of course, if ethanol can be produced substantially cheaper from sources other than corn, it's Political Correctness will suffer accordingly. Because it's so hydrophilic and volatile, it's still a problematic fuel -- but, hey, at least it's not as dumb as hydrogen. If a gasohol mix can be priced lower than gasoline (per BTU), then it might even be worth putting up with the drawbacks.

As for me, I'm still looking for an economical small diesel/electric hybrid pickup truck. As soon as somebody produces one for sale in the US, I will buy one -- along with a home biodiesel production system.

Reply

*** Mascoma getting closer to commercial production of cellulosic ethanol ***

Not to be picky ... but to be picky, this news and press release do not make any claim that this company is actually making any progress towards commercialization at all. It just says they're doing a lot of research IN HOPES of finding something that'll work, and getting some help doing research from Dartmouth. None of this means anything they do will ever be commercially viable.

Just being picky :) Me, I'm doing research for an antigravity plate that will power a perpetual motion wheel. I'm surprised no one else has ever thought of it.

Reply

The big oil companies have two major assets ... their oil and their money. Their oil is not going to be around for ever and their money will not keep growing past that event horizon. You can rest assured that oil companies will not fight the transition forever as they are the only "venture capitalists" who have the funds to reinvent our energy infrastructure and continue making money. Do you really believe that they want to stay in an economy whose product is actually decreasing in availability. Not likely. The oil industry is a sinking ship _but_ low supply is when the most money can be made. *shrug* They've been waiting for these days since the beginning. The hayday won't last forever.

Reply

Sounds interesting. Ethanol seems to cost less than gas per unit of energy, hopefully these guys can make it even cheaper.

Reply