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homestead - Re: [Homestead] An International Analysis of the Credit Debacle

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Chronological Thread  
  • From: Clansgian AT wmconnect.com
  • To: homestead AT lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: Re: [Homestead] An International Analysis of the Credit Debacle
  • Date: Mon, 8 Oct 2007 10:15:13 EDT


> In climate impact there is some advantage to using renewable vs
> geosequestered biomass just in releasing only modern carbons that would
> be impacting currently anyway.

But in the case of ethanol (and to a certain extent, any "renewable" motor
fuel) is that the idea that it uses modern carbon is a sham. It doesn't.
Presently we must use ancient carbon to grow the modern carbon bearing fuel.
The
farm machinery still depends on gasoline and diesel, the fertilizer still
depends on natural gas, the processing of the fuel still depends on natural
gas.
You can't actually grow and distill a gallon of ethanol with with the energy
in
a gallon of ethanol.

That is the ethanol busy work scheme has us releasing the carbon from fossil
fuel, sequestering it in the plants, then releasing it again when we burn
that
fuel. We gain nothing in the carbon cycle.

Hand labor and animal labor would break this cycle. Not only that, who'd
need the motor fuel in that case anyway? </HTML>




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