Archer Daniels Midland Company (ADM)

pauleckler (61.57) Submitted: 9/27/06 4:41 AM

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Bah! Humbug! No one ever said ethanol is the answer to our enegy problems. But it is a greenhouse friendly fuel that will power our automobiles without depending on imported oil. The best we can hope for in the near future is a 10% replacement of gasoline, but that is a pretty large dent in the market considering the huge numbers involved.

So long as the wholesale price of gasoline remains above $1.40/gal, ethanol should do well. And ADM as the leading producer in the US (for now) should also do well.

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Guin3666 (98.02) Submitted: 9/28/06 8:07 PM

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I agree that ethanol is mostly hype right now... soon enough the new regulations will have to be relaxed or the prices of corn and sugar are going to increase.

The energy problems in North America will be long lasting mostly because americans aren't good at changing habits.

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nautikal (66.90) Submitted: 11/02/06 3:09 PM

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Ethanol still makes carbon dioxide when burned and CO2 is a greenhouse gas so I wouldn't call is greenhouse friendly. It just doesn't produce as much CO2 per kJ of energy produced as far as I know. Therefore, ethanol isn't the solution to greenhouse gases and it won't be successful in the long term. Eventually something thats environment friendly will be invented/mass produced.

Combustion of Ethanol:
C2H5OH 3O2 -> 2CO2 3H2O

Combustion of Octane
C8H18 12.5O2 -> 8CO2 9H2O

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anopres (91.85) Submitted: 11/10/06 10:16 AM

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Check out www.teslamotors.com. That's about the greenest and MOST FUN vehicle I've ever seen. Too bad they are still private, otherwise they would get more publicity. We still have to figure out how to make electricity in an environmentally friendly way, but at least it gets the internal combustion engine off the road. The vehicle itself has ZERO emissions.

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2win (< 20) Submitted: 5/24/07 6:17 PM

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This is not about global warming or any passing fads. Ethanol and biodiesel fuel is the way to a sensible energy policy. Brazil has patienty followed this path, over a 30-year period, and recently declared its independence from OPEC control. If they can, why can't we?? Where there is a will, there is a way. Surely the United States, using new, creative technology, or even Brazil's technology, can figure this out if they want to. We needn't continue in the stranglehold of the middle east arabs and young upstarts like Chavez of Venezuela. It won't happen overnight, but it could happen sooner than 30 years. We have to start sometime, so let's start NOW.

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Sinfest (26.38) Submitted: 7/10/07 6:01 AM

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Brazil's plan for ethanol as a fuel is more feasible because they produce sugar ethanol which is much more efficient than corn ethanol. Even then, Brazil cannot sustainably depend on sugar plantations because of the problems involved in clearing rainforest for farm land, and because the need for fuel will conflict with the need for food.

Trust me, ethanol is NOT the magic bullet that will solve the energy problem.

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