Ethanol the Answer - Really?

You hear alot of talk about ethanol as one of, if not THE main answer to the world's problem of dependence on oil and fossil fuels for energy. I recently read a report in the news about an organization that has been formed to protest against ethanol. Their concern is that it's irresponsible for arable land to be used to feed cars and SUVs instead of people. I have to admit that it seems like they have a point. Ethanol can't be the answer.

That made me think about other energy alternatives...

Wind - Great idea where it is practical. What I don't understand is the protests against wind power based on windmills messing up rich people's views. The most telling example of this is in Martha's Vineyard. A wind farm is proposed for about 12 miles out to sea. Those who own the expensive houses on the shore think that it spoils the vista. Sorry, can't generate much sympathy.

Check out http://tinyurl.com/27gn7z for for an article about a car that runs entirely on solar and wind power. Speaking of solar...

Solar - Also a great idea where practical. I love the idea of these desert solar plants which utilize a huge array of mirrors to focus the energy for the highest efficiency. See http://tinyurl.com/3yk5m9 for an example. There saw one featured also in the movie "Sahara" (which got terrible reviews even though it was pretty good - the movie not the power plant). Household solar could be useful, but could never replace current electrical supply in most places because of that annoying thing called cloud.

Hydro - I'm sensing a theme here. Great where practical. Great in places like Niagara Falls. Terrible in places like the Three Gorges Dam in China where they destroy 'huge tracts of land'.

Waste - Helps to solve two problems, waste disposal and energy generation. As long as they can keep the emissions clean, they should be doing this everywhere. (in my humble opinion)

Now for my two favourites - tidal and geothermal.

Tidal & Wave - I know the technology is not quite there yet, but to me this seems like the perfect clean and renewable energy source (provided that the US and China don't get into a space war and destroy the moon). The principle here is that objects are placed in the waves/surf to translate the force of the waves and tides (which is huge) into energy. There are no emissions, it doesn't destroy the environment and some technologies can even be underwater, saving the fragile sensibilities of those in the Hamptons or Martha's Vineyard.

(Note: I have treated two energy sources as if they are one and as if they would use the same technology which is a vast oversimplification, but the conclusions are the same.)

GeoThermal - Here is another perfectly clean power source, and 100% renewable. The heat within the earth is not going anyway (then again we may need to check with Al Gore in case he knows something we don't). Unfortunately, not every area has access to easily accessible geo-thermal energy. Seems to me though that technology someday may allow drilling in some areas to access deeper heat sources. Iceland has led the way in this field, and every other area with proximity to the earth's heat should follow their lead.

If the developing world were to embrace more of these technologies (and perhaps pay less attention to Ethanol) then perhaps the developing world would not continue to develop the same old dirty power sources.

I admin that these favoured sources of power don't directly constitute an apples-to-apples comparison with Ethanol since that is more of a gasoline alternative rather than a power generation alternative - or is it. If it were cheaper and cleaner to generate electricity then the practicality of electric cars goes way up.