Tuesday, January 25, 2011

A"maize"ing Fuel Source?

I was looking around the internet today, and I found this interesting article from the Washington Post concerning ethanol as a fuel source: EPA Approves More Ethanol in Fuel for Cars. For those of you who don't know, ethanol is a fuel source usually made from corn, but can also be made from other grains. As of now it is used in a mixture with gasoline to help power cars, and the EPA just approved of an increase in the amount of ethanol that can be mixed with gasoline from 10% to 15%.

I feel that ethanol is a viable and economic alternative to using just gasoline. It reduces our dependency on foreign companies for all of our fuel, since we grow the corn needed here in the United States. However, this increase in the amount of ethanol might not be entirely beneficial.

Only cars made since 2001 will be able to support this increase in the ethanol mixture, according to the article, so people that have cars older will have to make sure they are going to the correct gas stations. Also, the increase in demand for using corn for ethanol will drive up the price for corn.

Overall, I feel this decision by the EPA is beneficial to the US as a whole because it helps reduce our dependency on foreign oil and oil in general.

Welcome All!!

Thank you for visiting NERG, a blog devoted to informing people on the various forms of energy out there. I also plan on addressing in any interesting news stories I find and relaying my opinions on the matter. Feel free to comment on any of my posts, especially if you have differing views. It's always enlightening to hear how other people feel about a particular issue. Again, thank you, and I hope you enjoy reading my posts as much as I enjoy posting them.
-Nick