I often blog about alternative energy issues and regular readers know that I have recently soured on the prospects of biofuel as a replacement for traditional fossil fuels (especially grain ethanol). The reasons are many and I have gone through it a few times, however, you might enjoy reading this article which does a good job detailing the history of the grain ethanol industry and the billions of subsidies that support it. In my mind, it is nice to know there is some ethanol or other biofuels being brewed in the U.S. for emergency purposes, but it isn’t a good option for the future – not good enough to justify so many subsidies.

Perhpas the money going toward biofuels should be shifted toward solar or nuclear power or toward energy research. The U.S is currently spending a lot of money on different alternative energy projects but some people worry that the money will run out before the projects become profitable. Perhaps the cleaner technologies could be sustained longer if support for grain ethanol was diminished. In my opinion, grain ethanol has had its day in the sun and it couldn’t reach profitability. Now it is time to move on. I would prefer it if the government didn’t exert so much influence over the energy industry, but if they are going to waste money they might as well move on to something that has a little more promise for the future and would fit better with electric vehicles.

Besides not being very profitable, biofuels will not help much with pollution and could even make things worse. Also, even if there is some tiny benefit in reducing carbon dioxide emmissions (and theoretically keep the planet cooler), biofuels use will not help much with the problem of acidic oceans.

Forecast:

For the big holiday weekend, the forecast is still looking about the same as yesterday. The highest chance of heavier precipitation will be today and Thursday. Friday is still looking very breezy cool with a few light showers or sprinkles. The weekend should be decent. On Saturday and Sunday I am expecting sunny to partly cloudy skies and high temps in the upper 60s on Saturday and in the low to mid 70s on Sunday. Monday should be a bit warmer – in the mid to upper 70s – and I am calling for a 30% chance of rain, mainly late in the day.

Have a nice Tuesday! Meteorologist Justin Loew.

Posted under Alternative Energy, forecast