According to an article to appear in the Journal of Environmental Science and Technology, producing cleaner fuels has turned into a "drink or drive issue". The main problem seems to be the great water footprint that ethanol production has: irrigation of corn/sorghum crops, and also pollution from pesticides used to protect these crops. So, we are trying to reduce the impact of burning fuels upon the air, but we are screwing with our water resources in the process... what can I say? Awesome!
It seems to me this is a consequence of a lack of holistic thinking on our part when it comes to technology in general. Sure, let us have these ethanol-based fuels, that have shown to be cleaner, but... where are we getting the ethanol from? We tend to adopt a very myopic perspective, without looking at global consequences. In the case at hand, all the process involved should be considered as part of the system, especially when you are trying to fix the environment! Then, you can take a global look at what the real impact is, and really determine what the benefits, in terms of reduction of contamination, are. If we are trying to clean the air, but in the process pollute the water... then it seems to me we are being pretty idiotic.
Of course, this is just one study, and the real impact and consequences are yet to be determined, but I just wanted to comment on the technological issue in general :-)
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