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Study Claims Ethanol Worse than Petroleum

posted by n1 on Monday April 21 2014, @08:21PM   Printer-friendly
from the conclusions-would-damage-the-economy dept.

The Mighty Buzzard writes:

Biofuels have direct, fuel-cycle GHG emissions that are typically 30-90% lower than those for gasoline or diesel fuels. However, since for some biofuels indirect emissions-including from land use change-can lead to greater total emissions than when using petroleum products, policy support needs to be considered on a case by case basis.

The IPCC has released a finalized draft of its Working Group III report. Sourced from Forbes, their analysis: that ethanol is worse than petroleum. The Working Group itself managed to say... Well, after a quick read-through of chapter 8, it appears they managed to keep any actual meaning occluded by a thick screen of political double-speak. So, I guess they said whatever you would like them to have said since nobody can prove any different.

 
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  • (Score: 2) by Reziac on Tuesday April 22 2014, @02:44AM

    by Reziac (2489) on Tuesday April 22 2014, @02:44AM (#34228) Homepage

    When I'm towing and expect to be climbing hills, I've found I get about 10% better fuel economy with straight gas, and don't lose power on long upslopes like I do with ethanol blend. There are still a few places in MT where I can buy straight gas, and when the truck is going to really work, it's worth the 1-2% higher price.

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  • (Score: 2) by frojack on Tuesday April 22 2014, @07:46PM

    by frojack (1554) Subscriber Badge on Tuesday April 22 2014, @07:46PM (#34556) Journal

    I've found a 10% mileage hit using 10% ethanol. In fact my owners manual for the car states this clearly.

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    • (Score: 2) by Reziac on Tuesday April 22 2014, @08:05PM

      by Reziac (2489) on Tuesday April 22 2014, @08:05PM (#34567) Homepage

      Makes a person wonder how massaged the "fuel saving" economics were, eh?

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      • (Score: 2) by frojack on Tuesday April 22 2014, @08:23PM

        by frojack (1554) Subscriber Badge on Tuesday April 22 2014, @08:23PM (#34573) Journal

        Well, the push to ethanol was never about fuel saving, it was always about energy independence.

        The sad bit about is that it appears to have failed to meet either goal.

        Note also an interesting wiki artical on cellulosic ethanol [wikipedia.org]. It explains the various means of getting from plants to ethanol, as well as some research that is in the pipeline.

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        • (Score: 2) by Reziac on Tuesday April 22 2014, @08:28PM

          by Reziac (2489) on Tuesday April 22 2014, @08:28PM (#34578) Homepage

          Too bad that using cellulose didn't become a Thing back when we had mountains of used newspaper... wonder if disposable diapers are a prospect.

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