Tom and Ray discuss ethanol

Friday, July 7, 2006

Dear Tom and Ray: I've always wondered about ethanol. Seems too good to be true -- you just plant some corn, harvest it, and in no time you have fuel for your car. So I Googled ethanol on the Web. There are tons of Web sites extolling the great benefits of corn-based ethanol as a fuel. Then I found one that made the opposite case. You guys went to MIT. Am I missing something? The report on this site says that 131,000 BTUs are needed to make one gallon of ethanol, but each gallon of ethanol only produces 77,000 BTUs. That means we're losing 54,000 BTUs for every gallon we produce. Just wondered if you guys have an opinion.

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