I think that there is one very important thing that is being overlooked in the drive to produce ethanol from either grain , switchgrass or any other biomass source as an alternative and renewable fuel source to reduce/replace use of petroleum. It is soil fertility. It sounds good to be able to grow something, harvest it and turn it into fuel. But, the continued removal of a crop without addition of plant food in whatever form, be it commercial fertilizer, manure . sewage ,etc., will result in the soil losing fertility and producing lesser and lesser amounts. With fertilizer prices having increased as much as they have in the last year, and demand and prices increasing every year here and abroad, will it be economically feasible to grow switchgrass? Will producers of ethanol be willing to pay increasing prices that growers will have to have to fertilize the soil to continue growing the increasing amount of crop materials needed to produce increasing amounts of ethanol for increasing demand ? Increased cost of raw material will result in higher price for finished product. Will it still be economical? It becomes a vicious cycle.
Many people , I think are being misled, and are expecting to much about ethanol becoming their personal vehicle's "fuel of the future". How plentiful it will be. And cheap. After all, doesn't it just grow in the dirt ?
There is no such thing as a "free ride". It has been a "cheap ride" in this country for a long time. Those days are over and the "ride" is going to get more and more expensive. Everyone in this country needs to be more conservative of fuel, whatever the source. It should this country's number one priority.
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Today's Featured Article - Listening to Your Tractor - by Curtis Von Fange. Years ago there was a TV show about a talking car. Unless you are from another planet, physically or otherwise, I don’t think our internal combustion buddies will talk and tell us their problems. But, on the other hand, there is a secret language that our mechanical companions readily do speak. It is an interesting form of communication that involves all the senses of the listener. In this series we are going to investigate and learn the basic rudimentary skills of understanding this lingo.
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