Ethanol: Myths and Realities

Submitted by Phillip Williams on Mon, 05/22/2006 - 18:51.

With high gas prices making alternative fuels increasingly attractive, no alternative fuel has received as much attention as ethanol. Some hail the fuel, which can be derived from plants including corn, wheat, barley and sugarcane, as a savior of American energy policy, while others see it as a fad popularized by its heavily subsidized corporate backers."

Full story here

Pataki for President - Willow trees for biodiesel

Some experts from NY were on Science Friday last week speaking with glee about Governor Pataki'a commitment that NY will be 25% alternative fuel by 2013 - they spoke of wind already powering one in I believe 20 homes in NY state (5%) and of research at NY University on making biodiesel from Willow trees, which I never heard mentioned before. It seems in NY, a hardwood state, they can produce 30 foot Willows in three years and, whereas it takes one unit of energy to produce 1.6 units of energy from biofuel from corn, one unit of energy will produce 18 units of energy from biofuel from Willow trees. The governor of New Hampshire says, if NY can do it, NH can do it... so what does OH have to say about this?

See the report from Science Friday...

Environment

New York Sets Sights on Renewable Energy

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Talk of the Nation, May 19, 2006 · Gov. George Pataki of New York wants a quarter of the state's electricity to come from renewable sources by the year 2013. Guests examine the plausibility of the plan, in a live broadcast from Syracuse, N.Y.

Guests:

Cornelius B. Murphy, Jr., president of State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry

Edward Bogucz, executive director; Syracuse Center of Excellence in Environmental and Energy Systems, Syracuse University

Carol Murphy, executive director; alliance for Clean Energy New York

William Moore, director of development, PPM Energy