ethanol and greenhouse gases

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Don Stauffer - 23 Jan 2006 14:37 GMT

There are a couple of good web sites about the energy balance of ethanol
as a motor fuel- the net energy between burning ethanol as a fuel vs the
energy required to make it.

However, what about the CO2 emissions? I cannot find such a site.
Doesn't the burning of ethanol release slightly more CO2 than gasoline?
Plus, during formentation the process emits quite a bit of CO2. I'd
like to read something quantitative. Are we worsening one problem
(global warming) in order to solve another (importation of petroleum)?

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Jimbo - 23 Jan 2006 15:49 GMT

An article in the 1/10/06 WSJ p. B1 indicated that a Chev Monte Carlo
emits 7.6 tons of "greenhouse gas" per year using regular gasoline but
only 5.6 tons when fueled with E85. I guess they are assuming about
15000 miles per year but the number didn't jump out at me. Also, do we
really have a global warming problem? Some data indicate the earth
temperature has alway fluctuated, even before humans were around in
significant numbers. Trying to control nature may be nice but beyond
our capabilities.<g>

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Don Stauffer - 24 Jan 2006 15:01 GMT

> An article in the 1/10/06 WSJ p. B1 indicated that a Chev Monte Carlo
> emits 7.6 tons of "greenhouse gas" per year using regular gasoline but
[quoted text clipped - 4 lines]
> significant numbers. Trying to control nature may be nice but beyond
> our capabilities.<g>

Well, my specialty before I retired was radiative heat transfer and
optical systems. I do know how CO2 creates the greenhouse effect, and
that is basic physics. The CO2 level in our atmosphere has been going
up, and that must create SOME temperature increase. Now, while there
may well be other sources of CO2, the increase seems to correlate quite
well with increased use of fossil fuels. Could be a coincidence, but I
doubt it.

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HLS@nospam.nix - 26 Jan 2006 12:09 GMT

> Well, my specialty before I retired was radiative heat transfer and
> optical systems. I do know how CO2 creates the greenhouse effect, and
[quoted text clipped - 3 lines]
> well with increased use of fossil fuels. Could be a coincidence, but I
> doubt it.

I doubt it too.
Human activity has changed the balance of fixed carbon (coal, petroleum,
etc)
and atmospheric carbon compounds.

Some are arguing, a little lamely, that methane is also a big issue in the
atmosphere.

But in any case, I cannot see that there will be no effect.

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