Rebuttal Ethanol

Ethanol as we see today is starting to weasel its way into replacing the fossil fuels that we use for gasoline. Ethanol has many benefits to our day to day life and the environment and the health of the planet. Ethanol being a biodegradable and renewable resource it has many benefits to not only the average day to day person but truly benefits corn and soybean farmers. Not only does ethanol benefit the planet and farmers but it also opens up jobs inside the United States instead of having to go out and find a job internationally or on a rig in the middle of the ocean. Domestic jobs allow people to stay home with their families and go home to a house everyday. Ethanol is not just used for gas but that is where the average person will see it as well as in hand sanitizers. 

Carbon dioxide emissions are produced highly from vehicles and machines, they are also highly controlled by deforestation. When you turn your car on and you stand by the trunk and you feel a warm air coming from a pipe that is carbon dioxide being released into the atmosphere through the exhaust. While your little Toyota Camry may not seem like it gives off much, it is the other million camrys being turned on everyday that add to those emissions. Now how does deforestation factor into carbon dioxide emissions considering they are just trees falling down. Deforestation is the process of clearing out forests and knocking down trees to create a field for agriculture use, or a place to put up a warehouse or factory and then those trees are sold for fuel, construction, and manufacturing. Trees have connections to carbon dioxide because they take in that carbon dioxide in the air and absorb it for the use in photosynthesis. So when those trees are taken down there is more carbon dioxide in the air because there is nothing around to absorb it so that carbon dioxide gets released into the atmosphere to add to the greenhouse gases. The vehicles used to clear out the areas also release a tremendous amount of carbon dioxide. So how can ethanol factor into this? Ethanol comes from corn and soybeans in America and sugar cane in South America. When these plants are planted into the ground and begin to grow they also go through the process of photosynthesis so they absorb carbon dioxide to start that process. 

Ethanol being farmed domestically also allows up to keep jobs local and not drill into the Earth in isolated parts of the world such as the North Slope of Alaska, the Arctic Ocean, and the Gulf of Mexico. In the areas there are oil rigs located in isolated parts of the ocean so these workers must leave their families to go work on these rigs for months at a time. Life on an oil rig can be lonely yet so busy as they are described as floating cities. When you first arrive at the rig you are issued hard hats, safety glasses, steel toe boots, and coveralls then you land your first shift which could last anywhere between eight to twelve hours a day for 2 weeks then it’s possible to earn that three weeks of time off to go see family again on land. While it may seem simple work for two weeks then three weeks off you are living where you work and are living in bunk beds and living with who you work with although your food is available in the cafeteria and there are other amenities on the rig to make life seem normal when you are not on shift. While this may seem great it is hard work and with the production of ethanol the rigs could start disappearing but another problem with the rigs is what happens when they are no longer needed? They either get left there in the middle of the ocean which ocean life could benefit to start a reef but there are most likely too many hazardous materials around to even have marine life. So for the most part they are broken down and scraped which adds to our landfill which then adds to our pollution. With the production of ethanol being produced on land and being farmed it allows for less pollution and more absorption of carbon dioxide. 

Lastly, Ethanol is the most cost effective biofuel that is produced. It is so cost effective because there is not a business or team that needs to be started as we simply started paying farmers for their crops to be sent to a co-op to be made into ethanol. Farmers’ lives did not change; they simply may have decided to start growing more corn or more soybean depending on what is more needed and how much they can get for each bushel from the co-op. When you go to get gas depending on your car you could get the cheapest gas. The reason gas prices vary all comes down to the blend of ethanol and gasoline. The cheapest option will have a higher ethanol to gas ratio and the more expensive option will have more gas than ethanol. Some cars are able to handle that higher concentration of ethanol and some cars can not that higher concentration of gas is called premium and more “high end” cars will use that gas. 

In conclusion, ethanol has many advantages ranging from planting, to price, and efficiency and it is much better for the environment than gasoline or oil. By finding ways to integrate ethanol into the environment more for replacement of things we may see the use of fossil fuels lessen and the carbon dioxide in the air disappear. Ethanol has shown us many benefits by using it in gas, and in hand sanitizer as well as giving people jobs closer to home and allowing farmers to stay in business by using their crop of corn, soybean, and sugar cane. We are also able to support those small business farmers instead of using big oil companies that may not treat their employees well. 

About RinkeshA true environmentalist by heart ❤️. Founded Conserve Energy Future with the sole motto of providing helpful information related to our rapidly depleting environment. Unless you strongly believe in Elon Musk‘s idea of making Mars as another h, Rinkesh, A., & A true environmentalist by heart ❤️. Founded Conserve Energy Future with the sole motto of providing helpful information related to our rapidly depleting environment. Unless you strongly believe in Elon Musk‘s idea of making Mars as another habitable plan. (2020, August 25). What is ethanol fuel and advantages and disadvantages of ethanol. Conserve Energy Future. Retrieved December 2, 2021, from https://www.conserve-energy-future.com/ethanol-fuel.php. 

Is ethanol cheaper than gasoline? American Energy Alliance. (2015, February 23). Retrieved December 2, 2021, from https://www.americanenergyalliance.org/2012/08/is-ethanol-cheaper-than-gasoline/. 

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West, L. (2021, April 27). What are the pros, cons, and cost of using ethanol? Treehugger. Retrieved December 2, 2021, from https://www.treehugger.com/the-pros-and-cons-of-ethanol-fuel-1203777.