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John Oliver Explains Why Ethanol Fuel Is a Lie (gizmodo.com)

submitted 6 months ago by ooli@lemmy.world to c/ecology@mander.xyz

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[–] ynazuma@lemmy.world 12 points 6 months ago

Not a lie, but it is a fuel that makes no economic sense. We are putting our food into our gas tanks. This has a measurable social impact, by driving prices of grains up, and it exacerbates the subsidy problem, subsidies that we are paying with our taxes

[–] snake 5 points 6 months ago

direct link to the last week tonight video

[–] stanleytweedle@lemmy.world 4 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago) (1 children)

What ever happened with cellulosic ethanol? I thought there was a big breakthrough in that process a few years ago that was supposed to make it viable.

[–] CraigeryTheKid@lemm.ee 4 points 6 months ago

short answer is that yes, it is technically possible, but the cost of capital (which hits you on returns and depreciation cost) to build the entire process and sourcing the raw material (demand for biomass) means that your final 'product cost' is higher than cheap corn ethanol, and/or investors don't see the risk vs reward they'd want to see.