Energy Fog
A
very good article deconstructing many of the claims for alternative fuels.
This builds on what I
wrote about here earlier about Archer Daniels Midland.
Alternative-Fuel Nonsense
Forcing the U.S. to import less oil would only hurt Americans.
Proposals for extra billions of dollars in federal subsidies invariably attract impressive bipartisan support. If someone proposed big subsidies to replace fuel-guzzling airplanes with hot-air balloons, organizations would instantly spring up and eminent Beltway bandits would scramble for a piece of the action. Groups with names like “Americans for Everything Wonderful” would suddenly flood the talk shows with representatives arguing that we could easily reduce dependence on imported oil by simply elevating our balloons with imported liquefied natural gas. Lobbyists inconspicuously tied to the coal or corn industries might provide additional hot air about methanol or ethanol. If the White House and Congress were dominated by Democrats, the sales pitch would be about cooling the planet. If Republicans held the purse strings, balloon subsidies would become a national-security emergency.
The current debate about U.S. oil policy is equally enlightened. It is dominated by a special-interest lobby whose primary interest is to enrich automakers and alternative-fuel producers, and by journalists whose enthusiasm for the green agenda has clouded their understanding of basic economics.
In 2004, the Apollo Alliance was patched together as an election-year opportunity to promote $300 billion in federal subsidies and tax breaks, largely for ethanol and methanol to (as the Kerry campaign put it) “help farmers and coal miners.” This year, it has again endorsed a $12-billion subsidy plan.
Meanwhile, Set America Free, a group associated with the Apollo Alliance, has made a highly publicized claim that the government could painlessly bribe or compel Detroit (but not BMW or Infiniti) to make cars that get 500 miles per gallon. This bizarre number starts with the Toyota Prius, which gets about 44 mpg. What they don’t tell you is that the figure would fall to 32 mpg if the Prius ran on the group’s proposed mix of 85 percent ethanol. They claim such a car’s mileage per gallon could be doubled by adding heavy batteries to be plugged in for short trips on electricity (i.e., 67 horsepower and no air conditioning) alone.
The article then goes on to look at the real cost of some of these alternatives as well as talk about oil and terrorism and how this is not and has never been a real issue.
Good stuff!
Posted by DaveH at June 2, 2005 10:59 AM