[StBernard] Study finds cellulosic ethanol worse for environment than pure gasoline

[Westley Annis]

Study finds cellulosic ethanol worse for environment than pure gasoline
Todd Masson, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune) (Todd Masson)
Print Todd Masson, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune By Todd Masson, NOLA.com |
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on April 21, 2014 at 1:29 PM, updated April 21, 2014 at 1:43 PM

Boaters despise ethanol. The substance that is mixed with most gasolines in
America is only slightly less harmful to outboards than Saharan sand, and
the growing numbers of boaters who have had motor trouble because of the
stuff will drive three cities over to find a station that sells pure
gasoline.

Some of the more environmentally minded don't mind making the sacrifice
because the rise of ethanol is saving the world from the perils of fossil
fuels.

Or at least that's what they thought.

A new study released Sunday shows some ethanol is actually worse for the
environment than gasoline. The study was funded by the federal government
and released in the peer-reviewed journal Nature Climate Change.

Researchers found that biofuels, like ethanol, made with corn residue
release 7 percent more greenhouse gases into the atmosphere than
conventional gasoline.

The benefits of ethanol are so low, the fuel doesn't even meet standards set
in a 2007 energy law to qualify as a renewable fuel, according to the
researchers.

The study deals a particularly harsh blow to the cellulosic biofuels
industry, since it relies so heavily on corn residue. That industry has
received more than a billion dollars in federal aid.

The Obama administration and representatives of Big Agriculture blasted the
study's findings.