If it's so expensive to get the ethanol from corn, why is ethanol based gasoline cheaper than oil based gasoline?

I keep hearing that it takes more energy to make a gallon of ethanol than the ethanol can produce, which creates a negative loss of energy while creating ethanol. If this is true, then how can a gallon of E85 gasoline cost less than regular oil based gasoline? From what I understand the amount of gasoline used to grow the corn, harvest the corn, and ship the corn to an ethanol plan is a great amount too, so I would think that the price of E85 gasoling would cost more than normal oil based gasoline.

How is there a profit from spending so much on energy to create less energy? Asked by Fatty12 47 months ago Similar Questions: expensive ethanol corn based gasoline cheaper oil Recent Questions About: expensive ethanol corn based gasoline cheaper oil Environment > Energy.

Similar Questions: expensive ethanol corn based gasoline cheaper oil Recent Questions About: expensive ethanol corn based gasoline cheaper oil.

Not only are there fed government subsidies, there are tax breaks as well. The subsidy or rebate & the tax breaks lower the cost of production to less than oil to gas. Conventional petroleum products are also used in the processing of ethanol.

I've seen studies in which it requires .66 gallon to 1.3 gallons to petroleum products to manufacture ethanol.

1 Ethanol from celulose is reasonable. Ethanol from corn should be a crime. So long as any person is hungry, we should save food for people.

Let cattle eat grass. Let celulose be used for ethanol. That is the only sane thing to do.

Ethanol from celulose is reasonable. Ethanol from corn should be a crime. So long as any person is hungry, we should save food for people.

Let cattle eat grass. Let celulose be used for ethanol. That is the only sane thing to do.

2 By the by - ethanol is a manufactured fuel. Of course it takes more energy to make than you get out of it. That is the way with manufactured fuels and that is why oil is so popular.

It is a "found fuel. " It is like coal.

By the by - ethanol is a manufactured fuel. Of course it takes more energy to make than you get out of it. That is the way with manufactured fuels and that is why oil is so popular.

It is a "found fuel. " It is like coal.

3 Corn is so heavily subsidized that farmers sell it for less cost than it took to grow it. These subsidies are paid for by you and me - or, more truthfully, by government debt (since we haven't been out of national debt since, well, ever) that our descendants will be paying the interest on for years to come. These subsidies probably make up the difference between what ethanol costs and what ethanol really should cost.

Corn is so heavily subsidized that farmers sell it for less cost than it took to grow it. These subsidies are paid for by you and me - or, more truthfully, by government debt (since we haven't been out of national debt since, well, ever) that our descendants will be paying the interest on for years to come. These subsidies probably make up the difference between what ethanol costs and what ethanol really should cost.

4 Estimates for cellulose ethanol are now $1 per gallon to make and $2 per gallon sales price. That should be expensive but sustainable - since it has half the distance of gasoline. Perhaps a great volume of production can lead to lower cost, but it would surprise me.

Estimates for cellulose ethanol are now $1 per gallon to make and $2 per gallon sales price. That should be expensive but sustainable - since it has half the distance of gasoline. Perhaps a great volume of production can lead to lower cost, but it would surprise me.

I cant really gove you an answer,but what I can give you is a way to a solution, that is you have to find the anglde that you relate to or peaks your interest. A good paper is one that people get drawn into because it reaches them ln some way.As for me WW11 to me, I think of the holocaust and the effect it had on the survivors, their families and those who stood by and did nothing until it was too late.