THE ULTIMATE CON GAME

Cornell ecologist's study finds that producing ethanol and biodiesel from corn and other crops is not worth the energy
By Susan S. Lang

ITHACA, N.Y. -- Turning plants such as corn, soybeans and sunflowers into fuel uses much more energy than the resulting ethanol or biodiesel generates, according to a new Cornell University and University of California-Berkeley study.

"There is just no energy benefit to using plant biomass for liquid fuel," says David Pimentel, professor of ecology and agriculture at Cornell. "These strategies are not sustainable."

Pimentel and Tad W. Patzek, professor of civil and environmental engineering at Berkeley, conducted a detailed analysis of the energy input-yield ratios of producing ethanol from corn, switch grass and wood biomass as well as for producing biodiesel from soybean and sunflower plants. Their report is published in Natural Resources Research (Vol. 14:1, 65-76).

In terms of energy output compared with energy input for ethanol production, the study found that:

corn requires 29 percent more fossil energy than the fuel produced;
switch grass requires 45 percent more fossil energy than the fuel produced; and
wood biomass requires 57 percent more fossil energy than the fuel produced.
In terms of energy output compared with the energy input for biodiesel production, the study found that:

soybean plants requires 27 percent more fossil energy than the fuel produced, and
sunflower plants requires 118 percent more fossil energy than the fuel produced.

"The United State desperately needs a liquid fuel replacement for oil in the near future," says Pimentel, "but producing ethanol or biodiesel from plant biomass is going down the wrong road, because you use more energy to produce these fuels than you get out from the combustion of these products."

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That ethanol will somehow magically help cure our addiction to oil is nothing more than a pipe dream, being sold to the American public by assorted shills, who's only interest is their bottom line.

That ethanol will somehow get us away from importing oil from the world's premier trouble spot, the Middle East, is another fabrication, being sold to the American public by some of the same corporations that are seeing their quarterly profits set new records every year.

As this respected study shows, ethanol production will use MORE fossil energy to produce than it gives back. That means more money going to certain Middle East countries with a proven track record of supporting terrorism.

Terrorism that will be increasingly directed at the U.S., as long as we have a massive military presence in that volatile region.

Ethanol is nothing more than a variation of the "SHELL" con game, which is portrayed as a gambling game, but in reality, when a wager for money is made, it is an illegal confidence trick used to perpetrate fraud.

The person perpetrating the swindle begins the game by placing the pea under one of the shells, then quickly shuffles the shells around. Once done shuffling, the operator takes bets from his audience on the location of the pea. The audience is told that if a player bets and guesses correctly, the player will win back double his bet (that is, he will double his money); otherwise he/she loses the money. However, in the hands of a skilled operator, it is not possible for the game to be won, unless the operator wants the player to win.

And in essence, we are being played by professional con artists, seeking to separate us from our money, health and our pristine Ozark enviroment.

Will we fall for this con or wise up and walk away before we lose all we hold dear?