The ethanol economy is a fraud

A gasoline and ethanol mix makes gasohol

Drive up to a gas pump in more than a dozen states, and you will find an indication that your gasoline contains 10% ethanol.  Just last week, the EPA approved an increase to 15% that will be going into your gas tank.  Ever wonder why the stuff is in there?   Ethanol (ethyl, or drinking alcohol) made from grain is unquestionably a good source of fuel that can be used in internal combustion engines.  There are Flex fuel vehicles on the road that can run on either ethanol, gasoline, or some mix of the two.   All is not rosy, however, and there are problems with ethanol that are rarely discussed as part of broader energy issues.

Ethanol is high octane, but
The octane rating of a fuel indicates the degree to which the fuel-air mix in the cylinder can be compressed before spontaneously igniting and causing the engine to knock. Ethanol actually has a higher octane rating (113) than regular gasoline (87). However, the energy content of ethanol is about 1/3 lower than gasoline. That means if you add ethanol to your gas tank, your fuel efficiency will drop. In E85 flex fuel vehicles, you need 1.4 gallon of gasohol to go the same distance that 1 gallon of straight gasoline will take you. 

Net energy yield

One major problem with an ethanol–based economy is the net energy yield, or Energy Return on Energy Invested (EROI) of the ethanol.  This is the energy profit that ethanol production pumps into the economy.  The bulk of ethanol comes from corn, and corn production in the US is an energy-intensive system.  Petroleum and natural gas are used in all phases of production, from tilling the soil, to herbicides, fertilizers, irrigation, harvesting, and transportation.  When all of that energy is subtracted from the alcohol, the net is close to zero or negative, and the system cannot be sustained.  Alcohol receives enormous federal subsidies that mask the overall inefficiency of the ethanol economy.

Externalities of ethanol production

There is also no discussion of the externalities of depleted aquifers and the immense amount of fertilizer that washes into the Gulf of Mexico from Midwest farms every year, creating a dead zone bigger than the one produced by the BP oil blowout. 

Who benefits from ethanol?

The issue of ethanol inefficiency would be discussed more openly, but for two major obstructing factors, probably of equal importance.  Congressmen from corn-producing states stay in office as long as they can deliver subsidies to their constituents, and the major agribusinesses Archer Daniels Midland, Monsanto, and ConAgra, all of which lobby heavily to keep corn production high.