Warning is Sounded on Ethanol Use

[Jcrowley]

Warning is sounded on ethanol use

The fuel would create more ground-level ozone than gasoline if used heavily, a study finds. Critics disagree on the overall risk.

By Janet Wilson
Times Staff Writer
Posted April 18 2007


Ethanol, widely touted as a greenhouse-gas-cutting fuel, would have serious health effects if heavily used in cars, producing more ground-level ozone than gasoline, particularly in the Los Angeles Basin, according to a Stanford University study out today.

"Ethanol is being promoted as a clean and renewable fuel that will reduce global warming and air pollution," said Mark Z. Jacobson, an associate professor of civil and environmental engineering and author of the study in the online edition of Environmental Science and Technology. "But our results show that a high blend of ethanol poses an equal or greater risk to public health than gasoline, which already causes significant health damage."

Ozone is a key ingredient in smog, and when inhaled even at low levels it can harm lungs, aggravate asthma and impair immune systems.

The health effects from ethanol use are the same whether it is made from corn or other plant products, Jacobson found. The study determined that a 9% increase in ozone-related deaths would occur in Greater Los Angeles, and a 4% increase nationally, by 2020 if a form of ethanol called E85, were used instead of gasoline. In the Southeast, by contrast, mortality rates would decrease slightly.

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/business/local/la-me-ethanol18apr18,0,4831521.story?coll=sfla-business-headlines

[Reterr]

1. k&r.eom

[originalpckelly]

2. Of course. I know. These people pushing this crap are fools...

it's a boondoggle.

Even hydrogen is a boondoggle, because its reaction produces water, which is the most powerful greenhouse gas in the atmosphere naturally/unnaturally.

Fortunately, the effects of water vapor are no where as irreversible as the effects of other greenhouse gases such as CO2.

*We know the short term effects of contrails because of the aftermath of 9/11 in which air travel was eliminated for a short period. During the days of the travel ban the range between the hi and low temperatures in a given day were much larger.

[Catshrink]

3. You're right -- * is pushing it so it's being pushed by fools.

For the benefit of his friends, no doubt. Wonder who the "Kenny Boy" of the ethanol industry is?

[Buzz Clik]

4. I guess that's why those who use ethanol often refer to being "lost in the ozone"

Perhaps if they put MTBE in their booze it would burn more efficiently.

[DCKit]

5. Why is it always "all or nothing" with these folks? So they use electric cars in CA

and E-85 hybrids in those areas of the country with low ozone issues.

It's not as if they're growing corn, sugar beets or even any form of biomass in LA.

We need to diversify our energy structure, because no one thing is going to be the answer.