There are only two stations in the Tomahawk area that now supply non ethanol gasoline for their customers. Non ethanol is better for your vehicle, provides better gas mileage and above all is better for the overall environment. Land used for growing a corn crop is wasted - cannot be used for another crop & is the land is only good for three years. Using corn is also a waste to the food source - people are starving in third world countries & here due to the corn being used to produce gasoline. Europe has already realized the error in trying to use corn for gas - also more costly to make. The gas stations are being forced to change to ethanol - all shipping stations are being changed & will not be able to ship a non-ethanol load to stations. The stations in the area that provide non-ethanol are Charlie's & Kracker Barrel. This will only be possible for about another week or two, then we are stuck with ethanol. As a country we need to wake up. If we want to "green" we need to think about all aspects.

Does a car get 10% lower gas mileage while using a gas/ethanol blend of 90/10?? The energy costs for producing a gallon of ethanol almost equals the energy created by burning that gallon of ethanol. (Tractor fuel to plant & cultivate, fertilizer produced from natural gas, fuel to harvest, fuel to dry the corn, fuel to run the distillery.)

I sure hope that the mileage hit is significantly lower than 10%. Otherwise I'd rather burn straight gas in my "fuel efficient" car until fuel cells or another earth friendly energy source is identified.

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What if there were no hypothetical questions?

I don't think ethanol is ever going to be a major part of solving the problems of our dependence on oil. It may however, be part of a temporary, partial solution.

The debate is still on going as to if there was ever any real connection of the food prices and supplies due to the ethanol production beyond maybe a small impact when President Bush was touting ethanol.

Most experts that have studied the issue have concluded that ethanol in any real quantities, will not be made form corn. There are many other plants out there that are much more cost effective and efficient. Brazil, second only to the U.S. in ethanol production, is using sugar cane.

Brazil is the world's second largest producer of ethanol and the world's largest exporter, and it is considered to have the world's first sustainable biofuels economy. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethanol_fuel_in_Brazil

Many think the first real alternative energy to challenge gasoline to run our autos will be electric cars. There are a few already on the market and it remains to be how well they are accepted. One of the major problems electric cars are having to over come is recharging stations, or lack there of.

The Smart Car is starting to pop up in the parking lots in my area. http://www.smartusa.com/

Zap is another one: http://www.zapworld.com/

Vespa is coming out with an electric scooter that will have a small gas engine that will be used only to recharge the batteries. The show I seen on it said it will get over 400 miles a gallon. Keep in mind, it is only charging the batteries, not powering the scooter.

I agree, ethanol from corn is the worst method of producing ethanol, but the lobbyists have a lot of clout. I don't think it ever was much touted as a "green" product. It produces less CO2 but produces more of other pollutants so it is not seen as an improvement.

If we reestablished relations with Cuba we would have a close source for sugar from sugar cane to produce ethanol enough to suit our needs. Or we could produce it from biofiber like switch grass. Meanwhile we need to reduce our consumption.

I am now very happy I bought my civic hybrid back in 2002. Now with the warm weather I am up to 50+ mpg. In part this is from driving slower but it adds up.

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If all the atheists left the United States it would lose 93% of the National Academy of Sciences but less than 1% of the prison population.