Filed under: Ethanol
Anti-ethanol mood strikes small-town Kansas
There is plenty of opposition to the rapid growth of corn ethanol in the Midwest, but a lot of that opposition comes from people who look at the larger picture, and from proponents of ethanol alternatives. The communities where the plants are located are often happy to have the jobs and a place to sell corn. Not so in Shawnee County, Kansas. In Shawnee County, a proposed $200 million, 100-million gallon ethanol plant was criticized heavily in a public hearing last week. The AP says that 150 people attended the meeting, and almost every one of the the 29 speakers voiced opposition to the plant. The locals are opposed to potential pollution from the plant, excess water use (see a similar story on the Ogalalla Aquifer) and odors. The plant is being considered by Emerald Renewable Energy, a subsidiary of Cargill. Representatives from ERE told the citizens that their worries were unwarranted.
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[Source: AP]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
detroit9000 10:38PM (9/24/2007)
Ethanol is a great stop-gap to hold us over, and to lessen dependence on foreign oil, until a more viable solution becomes possible.
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GreyFlcn 12:56AM (9/25/2007)
And they have a good reason to think that Ethanol is dangerous.
http://uk.reuters.com/article/environmentNews/idUKN2044379220070920
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studemax 3:20AM (9/25/2007)
There is no use going with a fuel that gets worse mileage than gasoline, especially for the same price.
I predict this fascination with ethanol will blow over within 10 years, no matter how loudly all the greenie advocates yell.
The American people will figure out that E85 is bunk, and demand gasoline or something better.
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Guenther 8:59AM (9/25/2007)
the reason (corn) ethanol isn't any cheaper than petroleum fuel is because it takes so damn much energy to make it, in the end there's only a 10% net gain. It does however have the effect of making the price of feed corn double- making the price of meat and dairy products jump. OK, so maybe we'll become less fat as a society- not bloody likely.
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mike 12:16PM (9/25/2007)
Shawee County is home to Topeka, while not quite Chicago or NYC, is not small-town Kansas.
I guess all of us in fly-over country are small-town.
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Tim 3:38PM (9/25/2007)
If you REALLY must to use corn or wood for energy, why waste all that energy by distilling alcohol? Here is MUCH more efficient use of these carbon neutral renewable fuel sources. http://www.cornheat.com/corn_boiler.html
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