Dear Friends--Here is a really great article on wind/alternative energy generation from Mark Jacobson at Stanford: "Wind versus biofuels for addressing climate, health, and energy" http://www.stanford.edu/group/efmh/jacobson/WindEnergy0108.pdf
Although many of us suspect that cellulosic ethanol is an unsustainable prospect, simply causing more resource depletion, fossil fuel consumption and CO2 release, there is still a substantial push to produce more and more ethanol. This is now being financed by the auto industry itself. See, for example: http://www.coskataenergy.com/ There are also other, potentially more serious problems with ethanol/E85: Another study from Mark Jacobson of Stanford University's civil and environmental engineering department, updated last year, says E85-fueled vehicles increase ozone levels, and a shift to 100% E85 fuel could boost U.S. respiratory deaths by about 185 per year. Jacobson's article states that due to increased ozone production (among other adverse changes in emissions) "E85 may be a greater overall public health risk than gasoline." http://www.stanford.edu/group/efmh/jacobson/es062085v.pdf This is a very technical article, but the bottom line is ethanol is more dangerous to public health than gasoline! Jacobson has said that General Motors, who is backing the ethanol plant linked to above, has actually asked him to revise his work. He is saying that GM's defense of ethanol as a fuel is "absolutely false". Jacobson further states that his conclusions, based in part on data supplied by GM and other auto makers, are "conservative". Meaning that health conditions will decline even more than his research has projected. Another side efffect is that E85 has less energy than gasoline, so more E85 is required to go the same distance in a vehicle. Even though the cost of E85 may be less than that of gasoline, AAA has said that adjusting for this difference, E85's cost is between midgrade and premium gasoline. So no significant savings there!! For additional extensive references on the above topics, see: http://www.stanford.edu/group/efmh/jacobson/E85vWindSol We are waiting for the small, practical electric car we can charge in the off hours.... Tom Tom Shelley 118 E. Court St. Ithaca, NY 14850 607 342-0864 [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.myspace.com/99319958 P I thank you for printing this e-mail only if it is necessary "Sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs." The World Commission on Environment and Development, Gro Harlem Brundtland Our Common Future, Oxford University Press, 1987 MY NOTE: Sustainable development does not mean "sustainable growth" as growth per se is not sustainable. And the term "sustainable" has to mean "for a very long time" (A. Bartlett). "The frog does not drink up the pond in which he lives." Sioux proverb _______________________________________________ RSS, archives, subscription & listserv information for: [email protected] http://lists.mutualaid.org/mailman/listinfo/sustainabletompkins free hosting by http://www.mutualaid.org
