The Ethanol Papers - Paperturn manuscript - Flipbook - Page 541
As for the claim that U.S. carbon emissions have reached a 25-year low due to
greater use of clean natural gas, I just have to laugh. The overwhelming largest
contributor to carbon emissions is the burning of so-called fossil fuels (abiotic
fuels) that includes gasoline, petroleum diesel, natural gas, and coal. While it is
true that natural gas produces less carbon than coal, and the switch from using
natural gas to generate electricity is helpful, the worst cause of air pollution in
cities like Los Angeles was/is the result of the transportation use of gasoline
and diesel. The reduction of harmful vehicle emissions is not due to any increased use of natural gas, but to the use of catalytic converters, improved
MPG efficiency, and ethanol blended with gasoline. Natural gas, in the form of
compressed natural gas (CNG) could have played a larger role in reducing
harmful vehicle emissions, but API's denigration of CNG as a vehicle fuel was
so successful that engine conversions from gasoline to CNG was (for all intents
and purposes) made illegal and uneconomical, and all regular production of
CNG-powered passenger vehicles for the United States ceased several years
ago.
In the meantime, the number of vehicles on the road using gasoline or petrodiesel continues to increase, and that means that more and more harmful emissions are being produced. To continue making significant reductions in emissions requires a significant lowering of emissions from the vehicles currently on
the road in a sensible time frame. This can only happen by increasing the percentage of ethanol used in the fuel to power these vehicles. The move to E15
and beyond is the only realistic, quick, and workable solution - for the next several decades at the least.
Consequently, this puts Jack and I back to agreeing on something: A change in
the RFS is needed. The question is should the change be to pour more petroleum poison down our throats and into the air - which is what they want; or a
change that gives us what any sane person would want: A healthier, cleaner,
and safer environment? This should be a rhetorical question.
