Tuesday, August 5, 2008

Alternative Energy: Ethanol

In “Oil: A global crisis,” Murray (2008) said that, “The oil prices have now multiplied sixfold since 2002, compared with the fourfold increase of the 1973 and 1974 oil shock that ended the world’s long postwar boom” (para.4). Today, people have found another alternative, which is ethanol, to replace fossil fuel. However, some experts have started to doubt the feasibility of ethanol because it causes a lot of problems. So, humans should reconsider the consequences of using ethanol as an alternative energy source to replace fossil fuel because it is not good for our economy, its production costs a lot of money, and it will destroy our environment more.

Ethanol is “the fuel derived from plants through a fairly straightforward process” (“Ethanol: Myths and Realities”, 2006, para.4). The primary ingredient is corn. Through a brewing process, the corn becomes beer and then separates alcohol which is ethanol from the rest of the mixture. In the end, the result is completely pure ethanol. In the article titled “Increased US ethanol production requires dedicated pipelines”, “There were only 10 ethanol fuel production facilities in the US in 1980, producing roughly 50 million gal/year” (Hogfoss, 2007, para.5). As the price of oil soars and the world runs out of fossil fuel, more and more countries rely on bio-fuel. Now experts estimate US ethanol production will reach to 5 billion gallons by 2012. There is a big controversy about whether it is a good alternative to fossil fuel. Some people claim that the use of corn for ethanol is too greedy, which is not a good way. Other people assert that it is renewable, can be domestically produced and it burns cleaner than gas. However, observing from the current situation, ethanol is not a good solution.

In my paper, I plan to argue against ethanol because it causes many problems and makes our current circumstance worse; we should not substitute ethanol for fossil fuel. First of all, because the corn is not only human being’s food supply but also the component to produce ethanol, if we keep relying on ethanol, the world will have an unavoidable disaster. Moreover, as population keeps growing, the corn will become less and less, and its price is going to become higher and higher, which means it will destroy our economy. Lastly, making ethanol will accelerate global warming, because farmers need more land to grow corn.

First of all, corn plays an important role in most people’s food supply, and the human population keeps growing in this modern society. In Environment: Problems and Solutions, the author discusses the fact that “There are more births than deaths happening in this world” (Miller, 1994, p.20). This means more people need more food to survive. Also, In “Biofuels blamed for food price crisis” the author wrote, “The use of corn for ethanol has consumed more than 75 percent of the increase in global corn production over the past three years” (2008, para.8). This means demand and supply of corn are imbalanced. Due to this reason, the price of corn is getting higher and higher. In the article named “Food vs. fuel?; Institute sounds warning that producing more ethanol will harm world’s corn market”, one expert said that “What we’re beginning to see is the unfolding of an epic competition between 800 million people who own automobiles and want to maintain their mobility and the 2 billion poorest people in the world, many of whom are spending more than half their income on food already” (Truini, 2007, para.3) So, the poor are poorer and poorer, and we really have to pay attention to this issue.

Secondly, as time goes by, there will be more and more people living in this world, but there will be less and less energy which we can use. So, there are more and more countries which use ethanol to replace oil, especially the US. And their consumption of oil keeps reaching a significant high amount. However, transporting ethanol in pipelines is not an easy thing to control. According to an article, “Increased US ethanol production requires dedicated pipelines”, “Ethanol’s solubility in water further requires that dedicated ethanol pipelines prevent water infiltration” (Hogfoss, 2007, para.16). Because transporting pure ethanol in pipelines makes it easy for the ethanol to get water infiltration, and get contaminated by the pipelines and become impure in the end. In order to resolve these problems, we always need to clean the pipelines and maintain quality control. Moreover, in “Increased US ethanol production requires dedicated pipelines” the author mentioned that “Light gasoline-ethanol blends may be able to move in existing pipeline infrastructure with no modifications, while higher concentration blends will require increased pipe cleaning and maintenance” (Hogfoss, 2007, para.20). Transporting ethanol in pipelines is too expensive for its volumes. Additionally, in “Ethanol: Myths and Realities” the author explained that “Ethanol contains less energy than gas” (Halperin, 2006, para.9). This means drivers have to take more energy resources to fill their tanks. This not only takes time but also wastes money. So, if we want to deal with these technical issues, it will cost a lot of social costs.

Lastly, as demands on alternative energy increase, the manufacturers of ethanol will try to produce more ethanol to make big money as soon as possible. So farmers have to try to grow more corn to supply production of ethanol; rising demands for corn mean more land which could have a significant side-effect on the environment. According to an article “Rethinking ethanol”, “Rising demands for corn, for food and fuel, can have a profoundly negative effect if it causes farmers to clear previously untouched land, in turn releasing more carbon into the atmosphere” (2008, para.6). This would accelerate global warming. Therefore, right now our environment has had so many kinds of pollution, we should not add another pressure to our environment.

In conclusion, there are many unavoidable problems with using ethanol as an alternative energy. It causes economic problems, has limited resources to produce it and harms the environment more quickly. Although ethanol could temporarily resolve the current problem of depleting oil, there will be more and more problems waiting for us to handle in the future. To avoid these problems, we have to use other energy resources or other alternatives, like hydrogen power, solar energy, or using public transportation. Therefore, the government of every country should reconsider this big issue and stop using ethanol as an alternative energy.

References
Biofuels blamed for food price crisis. (2008, July 4). REUTERS. Retrieved July 8, 2008, from www.reuters.com

Hogfoss, R. E. (2007, September 17). Increased US ethanol production requires dedicated pipelines. Retrieved July 7, 2008, from Lexis Nexis

Halperin, A. (2006, May 19). Ethanol: Myths and Realities. Business and Week. Retrieved July 7, 2008, from www.businessweek.com

Miller, G. T., Jr. (1994). Environment: Problems and Solutions. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Publishing Company.

Rethinking ethanol. (2008, May 11). The New York Times. Retrieved July 7, 2008, from www.nytimes.com

Truini, J. (2007, January 22). Food vs. fuel?; Institute sounds warning that producing more ethanol will harm world’s corn market. Waste News. Retrieved July 8, 2008, from Lexis Nexis

Wallace, E. (2006, April 27). Ethanol: A tragedy in 3 Acts. Business Week. Retrieved July 9, 2008, from www.businessweek.com

Monday, August 4, 2008

Marijuana should be legal

As civilizations develop, nowadays people are more well-educated than before. We can think and control our actions and minds. There is always a controversial issue which is whether marijuana should be legal. According to one survey, “The public is more accepting of medical marijuana-80 percent polled think it’s OK to dispense marijuana for medical purpose” (Roche, 2002, para.57). So people usually use marijuana as for medical use, not for drugs. We should make marijuana be legal.
The primary reason is that it is hard to stop someone from doing something, which takes money and time. In an article titled “The case for legalization of marijuana”, the author explained that “Money spent on enforcement of marijuana laws is money wasted” (Benna, 2005, para.7). This is because there will be someone who sells marijuana under the market, and you can never catch him.
Moreover, because we are civilized people, there are other better ways to control marijuana besides forcing people to pay tax. In an article titled ”Why should marijuana be legal?”, the Marijuana Legalization organization said that “Regulating sales of marijuana and teaching people the truth about its health effects will allow us to minimize the harms and costs to society (“Why should marijuana be legal?, 2007, para.3 ). By educating and persuading people of the truth about marijuana, it will be better way to convince people.
In conclusion, everyone has his own rights to choose what he wants and what he doesn’t want, if humans are told right from wrong. Therefore, the government should educate people about the advantages and disadvantages of using marijuana, and the worst way to do it is to force people not to do it.

References
Roche, M. (2002, Dec 6). Marijuana advocates seek legalization for medical use. The Daily Reveille. Retrieved July 29, 2008, from http://tinyurl.com/6aam73
Why should marijuana be legal? (2007). Marijuana Legalization Organization. Retrieved July 29, 2008, from http://www.mjlegal.org/

Friday, August 1, 2008

Alternative Energy: Ethanol

Alternative energy: Ethanol
In “ Oil: A global crisis,” Murray (2008), said that “ The oil prices have now multiplied sixfold since 2002, compared with the fourfold increase of the 1973 and 1974 oil shock that ended the world’s long postwar boom” (para.4). Today, people have found another alternative, which is ethanol, to replace fossil fuel. However, some experts have started to doubt the feasibility of ethanol because it causes a lot of problems. So, humans should reconsider the consequences of using ehanol as an alternative energy source to replace fossil fuel because it is not good for our economy, its production costs a lot of money, and it will destroy our environment more.

Ethanol is “the fuel derived from plants through a fairly straightforward process” (“Ethanol: Myths and Realities”, 2006, para.4). The primary ingredient is corn. Through a brewing process, the corn becomes beer and then separates alcohol which is ethanol from the rest of the mixture. In the end, the result is completely pure ethanol. In the article titled “Increased US ethanol production requires dedicated pipelines”, “There were only 10 ethanol fuel production facilities in the US in 1980, producing roughly 50 million gal/year” (Hogfoss, 2007, para.5). As the price of oil soars and the world runs out of fossil fuel, more and more countries rely on bio-fuel. Now experts estimate US ethanol production will reach to 5 billion gallons by 2012. There is a big controversy about whether it is a good alternative to fossil fuel. Some people claim that the use of corn for ethanol is too greedy, which is not a good way. Other people assert that it is renewable, can be domestically produced and it burns cleaner than gas. However, observing from the current situation, ethanol is not a good solution.

In my paper, I plan to argue against ethanol because it causes many problems and makes our current circumstance worse; we should not substitute ethanol for fossil fuel. First of all, because the corn is not only human being’s food supply but also the component to produce ethanol, if we keep relying on ethanol, the world will have an unavoidable disaster. Moreover, as population keeps growing, the corn will become less and less, and its price is going to become higher and higher, which means it will destroy our economy. Lastly, making ethanol will accelerate global warming, because farmers need more land to grow corn.

First of all, corn plays an important role in most people’s food supply, and the human population keeps growing in this modern society. In Environment: Problems and Solutions, the author discusses the fact that “There are more births than deaths happening in this world” (Miller, 1994, p.20). This means more people need more food to survive. Also, In “Biofuels blamed for food price crisis” the author wrote, “The use of corn for ethanol has consumed more than 75 percent of the increase in global corn production over the past three years” (2008, para.8). This means demand and supply of corn are imbalanced. Due to this reason, the price of corn is getting higher and higher. In the article named “Food vs. fuel?; Institute sounds warning that producing more ethanol will harm world’s corn market”, one expert said that “What we’re beginning to see is the unfolding of an epic competition between 800 million people who own automobiles and want to maintain their mobility and the 2 billion poorest people in the world, many of whom are spending more than half their income on food already” (Truini, 2007, para.3) So, the poor are poorer and poorer, and we really have to pay attention to this issue.

Secondly, as time goes by, there will be more and more people living in this world, but there will be less and less energy which we can use. So, there are more and more countries which use ethanol to replace oil, especially the US. And their consumption of oil keeps reaching a significant high amount. However, transporting ethanol in pipelines is not an easy thing to control.

According to an article, “Increased US ethanol production requires dedicated pipelines”, “Ethanol’s solubility in water further requires that dedicated ethanol pipelines prevent water infiltration” (2007, para.16). Because transporting pure ethanol in pipelines is easy to get water infiltration, and get contaminated by pipelines and become impure in the end. In order to resolve these problems, we always need to clean the pipelines and maintain quality control. transporting ethanol in pipelines is too expensive for its volumes. So, if we want to deal with these technical issues , it will cost a lot of social costs.

Lastly, as demands on alternative energy increase, the manufacturers of ethanol will try to produce more ethanol to make big money as soon as possible. So farmers have to try to grow more corn to supply production of ethanol; rising demands for corn mean more land which could have a significant side-effect on the environment. According to an article “Rethinking ethanol”, “Rising demands for corn, for food and fuel, can have a profoundly negative effect if it causes farmers to clear previously untouched land, in turn releasing more carbon into the atmosphere” (2008, para.6). This would accelerate global warming. Therefore, right now our environment has had so many kinds of pollution, we should not add another pressure to our environment.

In conclusion, there are many unavoidable problems to use ethanol as an alternative energy in many ways. It causes economic problems, has limited resources to produce it and harms the environment more quickly. Therefore, the government of every country should reconsider this big issue and stop using ethanol as an alternative energy.

References
Biofuels blamed for food price crisis. (2008, July 4). REUTERS. Retrieved July 8, 2008, from www.reuters.com

Hogfoss, R. E. (2007, September 17). Increased US ethanol production requires dedicated pipelines. Retrieved July 7, 2008, from Lexis Nexis

Halperin, A. (2006, May 19). Ethanol: Myths and Realities. Business and Week. Retrieved July 7, 2008, from www.businessweek.com

Miller, G. T., Jr. (1994). Environment: Problems and Solutions. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Publishing Company.

Rethinking ethanol. (2008, May 11). The New York Times. Retrieved July 7, 2008, from www.nytimes.com

Truini, J. (2007, January 22). Food vs. fuel?; Institute sounds warning that producing more ethanol will harm world’s corn market. Waste News. Retrieved July 8, 2008, from Lexis Nexis

Wallace, E. (2006, April 27). Ethanol: A tragedy in 3 Acts. Business Week. Retrieved July 9, 2008, from www.businessweek.com

Monday, July 14, 2008

Food vs. fuel?

According to this article “Food vs. fuel?; Institute sounds warning that producing more ethanol will harm world’s corn market”, the author suggests different opinions of two experts. One of these two experts, Lester Brown who is the president of the Earth Policy Institute, states that producing ethanol as an alternative oil creates a competition between 800 million people who have vehicles and the 2 billion poorest people who are spending more than 50% of their salaries on food. Moreover, he says that the requirement of the whole world for ethanol is absolutely greedy. The other expert, Brian Jennings who is executive vice president for the American Coalition for Ethanol, argues that Brown’s worries are unnecessary. Also, he asserts that we won’t have the phenomenon of shortage of food. In conclusion, the author wants people living in this world to be concerned about the issue of ethanol.

Apparently, using ethanol as fuel has created chaos around the world. Although we can substitute ethanol for oil to decrease consumption of fuel temporarily, it also produces a lot of problems we need to face soon. There is not only the problem of food crisis but also the problem of the world’s economics. Therefore, the author worried about the reality of this world.

Firstly, ethanol is primarily made from corn through a series of chemical process. And corn plays an important role in most people’s food supply. Also, the human population keeps growing in this modern society. In ”Environment: Problems and Solutions”, the author discusses the fact that “There are more births than deaths happening in this world”(Miller, 1994, p.20). It means more people need more food to survive. However, if we keep using corn to produce ethanol, it will make many people have no food to eat. So, we need to reconsider whether using corn to make ethanol is a good way.

Secondly, using corn to produce ethanol has been a huge impact on our economy. It is not only a food resource but also made of ethanol. In “Biofuels blamed for food price crisis” the author wrote “The use of corn for ethanol has consumed more than 75 percent of the increase in global corn production over the past three years.” It means demand and supply of corn is imbalanced. Due to this reason, the price of corn is getting higher and higher. So, the poor are poorer and poorer, and we really have to pay attention on this issue.

Lastly, as demands on alternative energy increase, the manufacturers of ethanol will try to produce more ethanol to make big money as soon as possible. So, how can we be so sure that these businessmen will have consciousness to control their output of ethanol?

On the other hand, although famers can try to grow more corn to supply production of ethanol, rising demands for corn means more land which could have a significant side-effect on the environment. Don’t we make a big effort to advocate protecting our environment? This way, I think using ethanol will accelerate destruction of our environment more quickly.

In consequence, we should not apply ethanol as an alternative because it would cause food shortage, an impact on the economy and damage to the environment. Hence, anyone living in this global village should be more concerned about this reality to reconsider its feasibility.

References
Miller, G. T., Jr. (1994). Environment: Problems and Solutions. Belmont,CA: Wadsworth Publishing Company.
Truini, J. (2007, January 7). Food vs. Fuel? ; Institute sounds warning that producing more ethanol will harm world’s corn market. Waste News. Retrieved July 8, 2008, from LexisNexis.

Thursday, July 10, 2008

不順的一天~

今天的課還蠻愉快的,吃完午餐後
我就打電話給賣車的人(1994,TOYOTA Tercel,$1100),結果進入語音
而且昨天才post的廣告,心想應該不會很快就被買走
到下課後我再打去,沒想到竟然說賣掉了.......(靠邀哩)
記得一個禮拜前也是這樣,想買的車都被買走,搞得我要抓狂了

然後又跑去Staple買binder,看到網站說三個只賣$0.25
心想賺到了,但衰事又來了,特賣是Sunday~Wednesday,it's Thursday
真的衰到好想揍人,碼的有沒有這麼衰
但是還好不是只有我一個人白跑一趟,剛好碰到Sean,也是要來買binder,ha ha ha

不知道是不是因為早上在路上看到兩隻烏鴉才這樣,還是我就是這麼容易遇到衰事?!
砍 ~ ~

Ethanol

In an article in the Oil & Gas Journal (2007) entitled “Increased US ethanol production requires dedicated pipelines” the author points out that if we want to use ethanol as an alternative energy, there are several problems we have to figure out. According to this article, he mentions that the US ethanol output soared more than 30% between 2005 and 2006. Also, he states that there are several ways to transport ethanol fuel from manufacturers to consumers, but pipelines are the best way to transport it. However, he argues that transporting ethanol in pipelines is not an easy thing to control. Therefore, he says that we need to create a new ethanol infrastructure to provide enough energy.

Apparently, the author’s idea is correct in this article. As the price of oil goes high and the crude oil goes down, we need to find an alternative to replace oil as soon as possible. Although he cites some problems about transporting ethanol, it is worthwhile that we spend a lot of time finding an alternative because we have only one earth.

Firstly, as time goes by, there will be more and more people living in this world, but there will be less and less energy which we can use. With respect to oil, wherever we go at any time, we drive a car or take a public transportation, the one thing that makes it work is oil. However, there is not any natural resource which we can use forever. If we still consume oil like the way we used to, soon the way we live will be totally different. So, it is better that we use ethanol as an alternative.

Secondly, there are more and more countries which use ethanol to replace oil, especially the US. And their consumption of oil keeps reaching a significant high amount. Also, if in the future they still rely on ethanol as an alternative of oil more and more, they have to figure out to how to keep ethanol in a good condition, because there is a lot of work to do.

In conclusion, using ethanol might cost a lot of money to control, but natural resources such as oil are worthless. So, we should try to substitute ethanol for oil.

References
Oil & Gas Journal. (2007, September 17). Increased US ethanol production requires dedicated pipelines. Retrieved July 7, 2008, from Lexis Nexis database.

Wednesday, July 9, 2008

Oil: A global crisis

According to this article, the author, whose name is Geoffrey Lean, wants to ask “How are our lives going to change as we struggle to cope with the $200 barrel?” He reports many experts’ opinions. There are Dr. Mamdouh, Goldman Sachs, Chris Skrebowski, and David Strahan. The oil economist Dr. Mamdouh says that if there wasn’t the Iraq war, the price of oil wouldn’t be so high. Another expert, Goldman Sachs, mentions that the price of oil could go up to an unbelieveable price and the era of cheap oil price will never happen again. Another expert, Chris Skrebowski, discusses the fact that there are many unpredictable things happening in the oil market. The other expert, David Strahan, tells that global oil production has achieved its highest limits.

There are several reasons that I agree with some experts. Firstly, I think the price of oil will go very high because there are too many unnecessary wars happening in the world. They not only waste human resources but also consume too much oil. Secondly, I agree with the editor of Petroleum Review, Chris Skrebowski, because in my opinion the trigger of the high oil price is that everyone wants to share this big cake of the oil market. On the other hand, I disagree with Dr. Salameh’s idea because I think some of these eight countries must have stored a big amount of oil on purpose.

From my experience back in Taiwan, the oil crisis is really a big issue. In the last couple months, the government suddently has declared to increase the price of oil. Before that day, many car owners rushed to add their fuel, which caused a long line on the street.

And from watching opinions on television daily, I think the oil crisis causes a series of things to happen, like food production declining, making poor families poorer, and economic recession.

Lastly, I’ve read one report from a magazine which made me believe more that there are speculators behind the oil market.

Reference:
Murray, J. (2008,May 25). The Independent. Oil: A global crisis. Retrieved July 1, 2008,
from
http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/green-living/oil-a-global-crisis-834023.html?service=Print