We often hear about the use of ethanol as a substitute for gasoline as a fuel. But to get ethanol, there are certain costs. One question is whether the costs outweigh the result, or is there a overall gain or loss to the available energy when we make such fuels.

Here is an article about one such effort in Iowa, where the value of the return on such efforts may be questionable. As the price for natural gas rises, coal is being used to fuel the process, with some worrisome results. So how renewable is ethanol as a fuel? [Thanks to the Ames, Iowa group for posting this link first]: http://search.csmonitor.com/search_content/0323/p01s01-sten.html