Slashdot Mirror
Ethanol More Trouble Than It's Worth?
call -151 writes "Yahoo reports this story by researchers from Cornell and Berkeley who show what a number of people had suspected- it takes significantly more energy (at least 29%) more energy to produce ethanol than it yields. Since ethanol production plants don't use ethanol themselves for their own energy needs (with presumably negible delivery costs) this has been widely suspected but not so bluntly stated: "Ethanol production in the United States does not benefit the nation's energy security, its agriculture, the economy, or the environment." Ethanol producers dispute the study, predictably, which deducts the multi-billion US dollar subsidy. It's not clear how this compares with this earlier Union of Concerned Scientists article that claims that the yield from corn kernels is net 50% positive- and the UCS is usually quite unbiased on these things."
I believe it's because a "funny" moderation no longer affects karma, but an "insightful" does, so some moderators don't bother with funny anymore.
"Why are so many obviously comedic posts getting modded insightful instead of funny lately?"
It's because you don't get karma credit for "funny" mods to your post. It's much nicer to give someone an insightful or underrated, etc., than a funny.
O3 is better known as Ozone, which to my amateur eye seems to be something we need more of.
I am trolling
Drink water and unsweetened tea or coffee as Diet Soda causes people to gain weight.
An Education is the Font of All Liberty