What is in the Future for Ethanol?
A move to ethanol would have some effect on our consumption of foreign oil, but perhaps not as much as the President hoped for in his State of the Union Address in early 2006. These pages will examine the issues surrounding where we can go with ethanol, and investigate through a blog some other possible fuels that might be used in the future.
Farmland
One important step in creating ethanol is growing corn which will affect our farmland. We investigated the amount of farmland needed for E85 and E10 as well as the impact of the increase in corn production on farmland.
Production and Distribution
The production and distribution of ethanol is another issue that was investigated. Do we have enough plants to make the ethanol we need and can we transport it from the production centers in the midwest?
New Technologies
Ethanol is not our only option for alternative fuels. This page contains our blog about several other options to help us reduce the amount of fossil fuels we use.
Oil Dependence
Can ethanol help reduce our current dependence on oil? If so, by how much? This page also discusses the reduced fuel efficiency of ethanol.
State of the Union Address
Does the State of the Union goal for less oil dependence make sense in terms of using ethanol?
Photo by Jessica Hardy and Kathryn Loddengaard
Global Warming
A powerpoint presentation showing some of the green technologies that will be needed to effectively reduce greenhouse gas emissions.