Whatever happened to Ethanol?

[Franco Cozzo]

Originally Posted by whynot

Sugar cane faming is on the nose with The Greens and the ALP due to the runoff of nitrogen-based fertilisers and pesticide run-off from local farming lands affecting the Great Barrier Reef. (Also on the nose is cattle grazing, bananas, and grain.)

https://www.reefplan.qld.gov.au/land-use/cane

The sugar cane industry itself faces very stiff international competition from high-fructose corn syrup as a substitute in food manufacturing. And, sugar, even though it is a natural product, there is an advertising push to use low energy manufactured replacements like aspartame.

The Australian sugar cane industry makes only 2% of the world's sugar. As such, it is a bit player and a price taker.

Just to extend the answer a little. Because of the energy yield of solar and wind, various interest groups would much rather see the sugar cane farming land converted to solar PV and wind farms. Instead of using ethanol as an intermediatory energy storage, we install massive transmission networks and convert the fleet to EV.

(Chinese solar PV, wind turbines, batteries, and EV's - of course.)

Can't do anything with aspartame or HFCS in it, chaos on my guts