I've been going over two or three things waiting to be published here, and catching up on correspondence. Also following stories elsewhere in the Catholic blogosphere. I'm hardly the guy who gets "the scoop" first; time has shown that I don't have that kind of time. I wait for the heat to die down, then I get the story behind the story. We all find our niche sooner or later.
But enough about me...
The area has seen a lot of rain, as has much of the eastern USA. That should be good for the crops. One of them -- corn -- could be getting a lot more attention in the years ahead. But an article in today's online news bulletin TCS Daily entitled "Ethanol's Dirty Little Secret" contends: "It turns out that, despite all the claims that ethanol is good for the environment, ethanol may be a net polluter in many ways. Ethanol does reduce carbon monoxide emissions because it is an 'oxygenate,' which means it adds oxygen to the fuel, converting the CO into CO2, carbon dioxide... But on the question of hydrocarbons, ethanol appears to make things worse." The truth is, I'm not so sure that the biggest selling point of ethanol was its environmental qualities, as that it was renewable, and decreased dependency on foreign oil. As one whose mother's side is still into family farming, this is personal, because that part of the Midwest known as the "corn belt" could renew its former prominence, and provide for jobs that can't possibly be outsourced over the border. Automakers are steadily catching on in converting new models to run on "E85," but most retail pumps for the octane are in America's midsection, and the supply infrastructure must be enlarged to meet the anticipated demand.
Between fuel innovation, and the rise of "hybrid" models, this writer is banking on progress for environmental quality in due course.
It would probably help if we took the train more often. But... that's another story.
No comments:
Post a Comment