Ethanol

In the 1970's the need to replace lead and to increase octane in gasoline the corn ethanol industry was born. At the time there was no investigation into the effects of climate change. Today we know it adversely effect climate. Feb 14 (Reuters) - Corn-based ethanol, which for years has been mixed in huge quantities into gasoline sold at U.S. pumps, is likely a much bigger contributor to global warming than straight gasoline, according to a study published Monday. President Biden is considering reducing ethanol in gasoline which is a good move. This leaves more corn for food which will be needed since the grains produced in Ukraine are no longer available. This will lead to a shortage of gasohol and cause the price of gasoline to rise. To offset this the US must increase its production of gasoline from oil. One way to solve the shortage and also not harm the environment is to use natural gas for transportation but the people in charge either are not aware of this or are not interested. If the current push for electric vehicles was directed toward cars running on natural gas the problem would be solved. Less oil production, lower gas prices and cleaner air. While electric vehicles are the future the country is not ready but once again politics drives out science.