The Ethanol Solution
Could Corn-Based Fuel Help End America's Dependence On Imported Oil?
From 60 Minutes, May 7, 2006
cbsnews.com (4 pages)
Excerpt from page 2:
"Today there are about five million flex-fuel cars on American highways. A third of them were made by GM, which now is spending millions to advertise the flex-fuel cars it makes. But in the past, GM – and other automakers – have touted other kinds of alternative-fuel cars, like electric and hydrogen vehicles.
Asked if he is serious about ethanol, Wagoner says, "Fair question. The direct answer is, yes. And we've got a million and a half units on the road as we speak. We’ll be producing more than 400,000 this year. So we actually think ethanol is a really good choice if we want to diversify the supply of fuels in the United States."
That ethanol would come from America’s heartland, places like Steamboat Rock, Iowa, population 300. Until a year or so ago, Steamboat Rock was struggling with a stagnant farm economy, like many Corn Belt towns.
"I felt like the farming community was pretty dormant. I have a son that I would like to get back in the farm, and there just wasn't enough income to support two families," says Mark Seward, who raises corn on a farm near Steamboat Rock.
Even though there's a bumper crop most years, the price of corn stayed low. So some area farmers looked for another use for their corn.
They took a big gamble: they invested their life savings — and convinced neighbors to do the same — to build a factory that would turn corn into ethanol. 60 Minutes met with some of them recently, including Larry Meints, who is a local farmer and the chairman of the board of the Pine Lake Processing Plant."
End of excerpt.
Hmmmm. How does GMs commitment to these flex-fuel cars relate to electric / hybrid plans? Abandonment, or welcome to the family??
For the complete story including how Brazil converted most of its cars to ethanol made from sugar cane and how a group of Iowa pioneer ethanol farmers took control and came out way ahead, see cbsnews.com . Fascinating. |
