The Ethanol Papers - Paperturn manuscript - Flipbook - Page 364
Top automotive people have always considered alcohol to be the best fuel. This
was true of Henry Ford as well as Charles F. Kettering, Thomas A. Midgley, and
T.A. Boyd (GM's top scientists in the early 20th century). And it's true today with
the continued use of ethanol or methanol in the most advanced race cars and
high-performance street cars. Incidentally, Kettering, Midgley, and Boyd were
responsible for inventing leaded gasoline, which became the dominant engine
fuel. The invention happened because GM was searching for a formula that
would imitate ethanol's anti-knock characteristics. It became the favorite fuel of
GM once the bean counters at GM realized that they could patent the invention
and make billions from it. GM was the world's largest auto maker even then,
and when combined with patents owned by Standard Oil and DuPont, they had
a virtual monopoly around the world on a liquid fuel that could be used in highcompression engines (competition from ethanol in the U.S. was virtually nonexistent because of Prohibition). Gasoline became the primary engine fuel because of greed, not because of its inherent quality as a fuel. The world's biggest
car maker, oil producer, and chemical company virtually bought the position by
buying political power.
Continuing from the story headline the information presented by Ms. Carlson
doesn't get any more honest as she thoughtlessly rattles off hackneyed, long
disproved criticisms of ethanol like a detached high school cheerleader who
doesn't understand the rudiments of the game she's cheering for.
Ms. Carlson writes that while ethanol was supposed to help reduce our dependence on foreign oil; combat climate change; be a gateway for more renewable
fuels technology, and reduce gasoline prices because it was cheaper; that it
hasn't done any of these things. She is wrong, it has done all of these things.
If just one gallon of gasoline was displaced by one gallon of ethanol then it has
lessened America's dependence on foreign oil. This is simple mathematics. If
America used 13 billion gallons of ethanol in 2014 to help power our passenger
vehicles then that means we reduced our dependence on foreign-controlled oil
by 13 billion gallons - simple mathematics.
Regarding "climate change," if one is to argue that man-made climate change
is real and that vehicle emissions play a large part in creating the problem, then
the use of ethanol in place of gasoline does combat man-made climate change.
Ethanol is a "cleaner" burning fuel; it produces fewer harmful emissions than
gasoline.
