After $100 Million, Exxon Backs Off Algae as Fuel

[poopfuel]

15. alarming ignorance pervasive

You seem like a perfectly nice person who is unfortunately a little too complacent about Exxon serving a national interest. Exxon serves its bottom line, as you said. Nothing they have ever done has served anything but that.

You have also unfortunately bought into all the stereotype arguments about biofuels, particularly ethanol. You comment without any research done, so you would find out if researched, that we have enough food to feed the planet several times over, that lack of food is an issue of cash, not an issue of quantity (do you know how many silos of corn we have in this country each year even AFTER last year's drought summer?)

You say that Exxon takes federal money to produce ethanol??? Where do you get this stuff?

Big agricultural firms are NOT in the ethanol business, with the lone exception of ADM and they don't use GMO corn. BTW, I'd much prefer to BURN GMO corn than feed it to cows which is where most of the corn in this country goes. Yep. Animal feed represents 88 percent of the corn supply. After ethanol is distilled, the mash left over becomes much higher quality animal feed because the starch has been removed. Cows can't digest starch.

As for subsidies, big oil has had the advantage there for decades and always will. So we will keep putting their swill in our cars because they have monopolized the message on ethanol and made sure it is demonized while they continue to foul our waters, our lands, etc. Hurray for you and your critique of ethanol. You just convinced everyone that gasoline should rule the day. I don't suppose you know that ethanol can be made by anyone whereas gasoline....... get the picture? Why do you think the oil companies hate it so much? And always have, since prohibition was enacted to eliminate its production.

Subsidies do have a place in our society when effective. Ethanol subsidies reduced the handouts we give to farmers (THE VAST MAJORITY OF ETHANOL PRODUCERS ARE FARM COOPS!!!!) for growing nothing. Do monocultures stink? Yes. Is corn a lousy product for ethanol? Mediocre, it's true. But I suggest you go to alcoholcanbeagas.com for alternatives and information.

Good luck in your research.