A little grist for the ethanol mill.
“Maybe you have not heard of BRAZIL?” Another reader demanded we explain why we agreed with Charlie Munger when he called ethanol “the dumbest idea” he’s ever heard. The reader goes on to suggest that the Brazilian government’s focus on ethanol production is “the best idea of this century so far.” Brazil uses sugar to produce ethanol, which we’ve been told is a more efficient process.
It might be a good idea with corn here in the U.S., if researchers at Cornell University and the University of California, Berkeley, hadn’t proved that it takes 29% more fossil energy to turn corn into ethanol than the amount of fuel the process produces.