My Sugar is Melting

The Brazilians are taking the lead on ethanol and damn are they proud of it. And I for one give them credit for their ingenuity. Instead of rotting your teeth you might as well use all that sugar for something useful. But our new energy saviour ethanol does raise a few questions.

After you think about this a bit ethanol doesn't seem to be that good an energy option. Surely converting all that sugar into ethanol requires a ton of chemical inputs and definitely a lot of energy which you have to get from somewhere. Where are you going to get it? Oil, nuclear and coal: sounds pretty dirty to me. It's illogical to make ethanol to be used to make ethanol.

And you also have to ask about the fields used to grow this sugarcane. Populations are so big around the world because we have been able to grow food with oil energy and oil-based fertilizers and pesticides. What do you think combine harvesters and tractors run on? When sugarcane for fuel replaces beans and wheat for eating that's less arable land feeding our burgeoning global population. Is it more important to cruise the streets or feed your family? I think it's pretty obvious but these days . . .

This is the problem with other panaceas like hydrogen. Where the heck is the promised hydrogen economy? Nowhere. You know why? Because if you want to run your car on hydrogen you have to get that precious hydrogen from somewhere. Hydrogen doesn't grow on trees. The best source of hydrogen is water but to make it you need a ton of energy, just the thing you're trying to make.

I'd love it if someone important (unlike myself) would admit that the party's over. I don't think it's the end of the world, just a post-party hangover and instant sobriety. Accepting that the days of cheap energy are over means that we'll have to become a more thoughtful species. Ironically I wonder if our capitalist society would embrace socialist planned economies. We'll have to prioritize our remaining energy (and there'll always be energy) to important societal goals: transit, trains, heating, communications and developing truly renewable technologies. We'll reject wasteful practices such as war-making, building SUVs for individuals' egos, excessive meat eating and trips to Florida.

Sounds pretty good to me. Are you interested?