# Ethanol may not be answer to US oil dependence: critics



## AAstakholi (Apr 7, 2017)

DETROIT, Michigan, May 2, 2006 (AFP) - As concerns mount over soaring gasoline prices and the United States' dependence on foreign oil, ethanol is emerging as a controversial balm for the nation's growing energy problem. 

Politicians and automakers say the corn-based biofuel can reduce demand for gasoline. By using more ethanol, advocates say, gasoline (petrol) prices would come down, air quality would improve, and American farmers would benefit. 

But some critics say there are far more effective alternatives than a fuel which requires massive energy inputs to produce. 

"I wish ethanol were everything that advocates say it is, but it is terrible that this has been latched on to and proposed to be a solution to our liquid fuels problem," said David Pimentel, a Cornell University ecology and agricultural sciences professor.


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