How Much Energy Does It Take To Make A Gallon Of Ethanol?

Date: 12 Aug 1995 | posted in: agriculture, Energy, environment | 0 Facebooktwitterredditmail

One of the most controversial issues relating to ethanol is the question of what environmentalists call the “net energy” of ethanol production. Simply put, is more energy used to grow and process the raw material into ethanol than is contained in the ethanol itself? In 1992, ILSR addressed this question. Our report, based on actual energy consumption data from farmers and ethanol plant operators, was widely disseminated and its methodology has been imitated by a number of other researchers. This paper updates the data in that original report and addresses some of the concerns that some reviewers of the original report expressed. … Read More

The Carbohydrate Economy: Making Chemicals and Industrial Materials from Plant Matter

Date: 12 Dec 1992 | posted in: agriculture, biomaterials, Energy, environment, Waste to Wealth | 0 Facebooktwitterredditmail

This 1992 report by David Morris and Irshad Ahmed was one of the first comprehensive looks at how plant matter derived products could replace many of our fossil fuel derived materials.  One hundred and fifty years ago, all of our industrial materials were derived from plants. In 1992, plant matter accounted for less than 5% of … Read More

Making the Polluter Pay: The Case for a Minnesota Carbon Tax

Date: 5 Nov 1991 | posted in: Energy, Energy Self Reliant States, environment | 0 Facebooktwitterredditmail

This 1991 report by David Morris looked at the implications of establishing a carbon tax in Minnesota. Minnesota should impose a carbon tax designed to raise revenue rather than to change behavior.  A reasonable tax might be $6 per ton, in line with taxes already imposed by European governments, although lower than those proposed by the European Commission.  Such a tax would raise the cost of energy and raise revenues and might encourage efficiency.
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The New City-States

"From the hills of Seattle to the flatlands of Davis, from the industrial city of Hartford to the universty town of Madison, cities are beginning to redefine their role in our society," begins this important essay.  For Morris the new role should should include inducing the widest distribution of productive capacity.  New technologies make possible a more self-conscious and organic city. Local self-reliance becomes a strategy that embraces economic, environmental, and political goals. Morris argues that we have had far too much government and far too little governance.  Government is bureaucratic. Governance is democratic.  Communities can design their future. The new city-state emerge.  … Read More

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