A YouTuber so arguably wrong….due to (relative) youth and short-term myopia (at the expense of long-term memory). The 10% corn ethanol had nothing to do with sustainability, global warming, or “climate change.” Going back 30+ years, it was a seasonal additive to slightly reduce big-city air pollution in the hottest months. At least that was the claim. Many say (and I agree) that it was just an outlet for the federal farm subsidies that purchased excess corn to maintain a price floor in the domestic corn markets. All the other environmental nonsense is ex post facto rationalization. And yes, far more energy is expended creating corn ethanol that is released in combustion—combustion that generates less power than gasoline. It’s a negative energy plan all around. Worse, very often the source of the grid power used to produces the ethanol is generated by fossil-fueled power plants! So the same or more quantity of fossil fuel is combusted as would occur within automobiles themselves.
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