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Ethanol a Different Sort of 'Green'

Posted on: Monday, 20 March 2006, 09:00 CST

By Jan Perry

With St. Pat celebrations behind us, I thought I'd explore a couple of "green" sites today -- specifically ones about ethanol, a gasoline additive/replacement that is suddenly getting a lot of mainstream attention. If you don't know what it's all about, or want to know more, these sites tell all. And if you've dismissed its potential, I urge you to visit at least the first site and read the frequently asked question section. Our futures could depend on it.

www.ethanol.org -- If a genie appeared promising that farming could be made profitable again, agricultural bi-product waste could be largely eliminated, air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions appreciably minimized and best of all, our desperate addiction to Mideast oil could be significantly reduced -- all by the use of one readily available "magic elixir" -- I'd bet we couldn't wish fast enough to make it happen. Well, it CAN happen, right now, and you don't even have to waste a wish to make it so.

I come from Indiana corn country, where the call for ethanol was touted by some and shouted down by others nearly forty years ago. It was ahead of its time then, but times have changed. Oil is no longer cheap or plentiful. Farmers are being forced off their land by the economics of farming. Not to mention the fact that we are choking our planet by burning ever-increasing amounts of fossil fuels. Read all about it, including the latest world studies, on this pro-use site.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethanol_

fuel -- I mentioned Wikipedia in Wednesday's column, but thought this article was too important to skip. I hope you'll read it all, but please at least read this, the final paragraph of this educational report: "It is believed by some (including former CIA director James Woolsey and Frank Gaffney, President Reagan's undersecretary of defense) that oil consumption in the U.S. contributes in a large way to the funding of terrorism. Oil is the primary source of revenue for many Mid-East countries. Many of these countries are thought to harbor and/or fund terrorist organizations. The use of alternative fuels would divert money away from these nations. Ideally, instead of funding terrorism, this money would then be used to fuel the U.S. economy. In any case, the U.S. would have considerable national security resources freed, if it did not have the need to protect supplies of Mid-East oil."

www.ethanolacrossamerica.net -- Hopefully you're now aware of the potential of ethanol and if not openly enthusiastic, at least maybe guardedly excited about the possibilities. Find out where it's available now and what you can do to help make it a national priority.

www.e85fuel.com -- "FlexFuel" (known as E85) is a motor fuel made up of 85 percent ethanol and just 15 percent gasoline. Read E85 101 to get the straight skinny on this amazing blend. See if your car can use it. And if not now, keep it in mind when the time comes for a trade in.

www.gm.com/company/onlygm -- I give a lot of credit to the automobile manufacturers that have taken a chance and developed cars that use the new fuels. General Motors has gone the industry one better. They are putting their advertising money where their research and development mouths are -- supporting a growing line of FlexFuel models with a huge, "Live Green, Go Yellow" campaign. ("Yellow," as in corn, currently the crop most often used to make the blended gas product.) Check it out.

Jan Perry is a Kentucky-based freelance writer who hopes one day her state's farmers will be producing for ethanol instead of current tobacco products. Write to her at SiteSeer2K@aol.com.

Source: Cincinnati Post

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