Comments on: A Possible Negative Impact of Ethanol Production on Water Quality http://owubiofuels.wordpress.com/2010/02/02/a-possible-negative-impact-of-ethanol-production-on-water-quality/ a class exploration of next-generation biofuels Sun, 18 Apr 2010 12:57:23 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.com/ By: Jonathan http://owubiofuels.wordpress.com/2010/02/02/a-possible-negative-impact-of-ethanol-production-on-water-quality/#comment-9 Thu, 04 Feb 2010 19:02:06 +0000 http://owubiofuels.wordpress.com/?p=183#comment-9 The problem I have with ethanol is it is solely a political payoff to a small constituency, in addition to its effect on the environment (namely, the amount of water required to produce it). Your post brings another point to the forefront, the effect of planting the same crop over and over requiring prodigious amounts of fertilizer (eventually the ground could reach a “saturation point” where no amount of fertilizer would assist in growing a crop), not to mention the adverse effects of all that nitrate and whatnot in the soil leaching into the water table.

Mainly, the political payoff part raises my ire. Plus, ethanol DOES NOT carry the same energy as gasoline. Let’s use our crude resources WHILE we develop alternatives that make sense. We’ve got plenty of crude, if we’d just go after it.

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