Energy Consumption
by Stephen Fluin 2005.07.20It was recently discovered that the production of ethanol, which has been widely hailed as a renewable and better energy source than oil and gasoline, takes 20% more energy to produce than other other alternatives. That means to switch from gasoline to an ethanol based fuel, you will still be hurting the environment, but now 20% more because it is taking MORE oil to run the tractors and equipment that plants and harvests the ethanol producing plants, than it would simply to use the oil and gasoline in the first place. This does not bode well for the planet. I propose that we switch over to nuclear alternatives. They are relatively clean (except for the highly radioactive wastes, which are relatively small), and the radioactive waste could be taken care of simply by launching it into the sun (which is radioactive and nuclear anyway).
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