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Originally Posted by oberon
As for the merits of E85 itself... the studies I've seen show that ethanol produced from corn is rather inefficient, and even if we use all the arable land in the US to produce corn for ethanol, it would not be enough to meet the demand. Ethanol from sugar is more promising, but politically infeasible. I think improving vehicle efficiency will have more of an effect on petrol use in the US than switching to E85.
That said, if it was cheaper I'd use it.
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One upside I see to using more ethanol is that the corn lobby will set its sights (and has set its sights) on government subsidies of the ethanol industry. More corn for ethanol=less corn for high fructose corn syrup, to my thinking. I know that idea is flawed, because the corn lobby wants to have their cake and eat it too.
Personally, I'd rather see more biodiesel. It's easier to produce and environmentally-friendly, especially since you can make it from used cooking oil.
But I'd rather use anything over foreign oil.