Customer Reviews

Shuck the Sheiks: Replacing Bloody Middle Eastern Oil with Clean Domestic Ethanol

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Here in Brazil, in 1975, the so called Proalcool(pro-ethanol in English) was lauched by our honest military government.Our left fight against it, all times, using money pumped by Iran's aiatollahs and even Saddam Hussein's US dollars..After all,just 9 years later, in 1984, ethanol was responsable for more than 20% of fuel volume, used here in Brazil.

In 1975, more than 82% of fuel used in Brazil was imported.In 1985, just 32% of brazilian liquid fuel was imported.Today, about ZERO% of liquid fuel used in Brazil, is imported.

This book is good, but has failures.One of then is te fact that it doesn't tell nothing about the possiblity of using the "trash" from the production of ethanol as another source of fuel.If you have hydrogen, you could produce far more energy, from sugar cane (and corn), than with normal tecnology.

To exemple, when you produce ethanol, you also produces CO2.If you have hydrogen, than you could transform it in a source of fuel.The process is this:

C6H12O6(sugar)------->2(C2H6O)[ethanol] + 2 CO2.

CO2 + 4H2(hydrogen) -->CH4(methan) + 2H2O(water) + energy.

In the waste from sugar cane(and corn) there's more energy than in ethanol itself.This waste can be transformed in hight quality diesel, by Fisher-Tropsch process.

Let's start with the positive first:

* A good basic introduction to oil (i.e. how it is used & where it comes from).

* Lots of data on why ethanol is more beneficial than gasoline.

* The author is passionate about solving America's energy crisis.

Now let's look at what needs to be improved:

* Extremely short book with lots of white space (only 110 pages long excluding the glossary and only about 70 pages long when you exclude all of the white space) and too many quotes from people like Julius Caesar.

* Looks like a college thesis paper.

* Lacks details regarding the actual production process for ethanol (some people would love to know how corn is actually converted into ethanol).

* Covers some important topics (such as cellulosic ethanol) with less than a sentence.

* Lacks the human touch.

Note to author - Next time, please add some stories about the people involved in this sector (such as the farmer, the ethanol plant manager, the E85 gas station attendant & the die-hard ethanol consumer). These people are leading the charge to reduce our dependence on foreign oil & improve the environment. They are sure to have many fascinating stories (and the addition of these tales would make your book more entertaining & informative).

Recommendation - Three stars. Good topic, lots of passion & data but book needs to be expanded (too many subjects get only minimal coverage).

While reading this book, I was surprised at my own ignorance as regards ethanol. I fancy myself to have some knowledge about alternative energy, but somehow ethanol is not as sexy as solar, wind power or even biodiesel. This despite the fact that it is produced by American farmers, and it turns out that in San Diego, I burn some in my car every day. This is the point of the book: ethanol is environmentally sound, produced in the US, and we can use it in the cars we already own. American ethanol can reduce our dependence on foreign oil. It can happen now.

The book is light and fast paced, punctuated by quotations and anecdotes, as well as reference citations for those interested in learning more detail. I read it in one rainy afternoon. The author does a fine job in avoiding shrillness and the "blame game", and except for a clear distaste for Middle Eastern wars, the tone is remarkably apolitical and upbeat. Although oil companies seem to have some responsibility for slowing the nationwide adoption of ethanol blends, Zacharias wonders why they do not try to get more good publicity out of the fact that these companies already mix a lot of ethanol into gasoline. He points out that American car makers are not enemies of ethanol, but already sell "flex fuel" cars capable of running on 85% ethanol, and that these cars (I was surprised!) are actually on the road in the Midwest. He wonders why such cars are not more widely available. Living in California where gas has been nosing around $3 a gallon, I wondered this too. These points lend credence to his main premise - if we as a people want to use more ethanol in our cars, we can do it now - there are no structural or technological barriers. I did disagree with some of his points on foreign trade - he discusses Brazil and the fact that they have to a large degree supplanted petroleum with ethanol for their domestic use, but then states that importing Brazilian ethanol would be a bad idea. No doubt this follows from his desire that America be energy independent. However, I would rather buy ethanol from Brazil than oil from the Sauds. Also, any country capable of growing a fermentable crop could in theory become an ethanol exporter. Ethanol could become a stable and salable export crop for third world countries, and by importing ethanol we could use our energy dollars to encourage allies and progressive states.

The point of this book is a call to action on the individual level. The real mystery to me is why this has not already happened. We eat dolphin-free tuna and use recycled paper products because of public interest in these issues. Why are "green" groups like the Sierra Club not rabid advocates of ethanol? Why is ethanol not a popular cause? Perhaps it is just ignorance. Ignorance can be cured. This book worked for me.

Some of the criticisms made elsewhere may apply, but the bottom line is that this book is a quick read on an important topic that I cannot help but recommend. The author sounds like quite a character--I would like to meet him, have a beer and discuss the world.

This book was lacking in content. The author does not provide a clear researched critique of the economics and technologies. The book is filled with a lot of white space and meaningless quotes having nothing to do with the energy woes of the US. Ethanol is certainly one of the many solutions, but should not be touted as the answer to rid ourselves of foreign oil imports.

This is a fair, short book, that explain all the facts, not in detail, about 2C3H3OH, that is to say Ethanol. Truth is that this was the only introductory book I found about Ethanol and despite the short of it, I was able to learn some important facts about ethanol production, biofuels, advances in refinery and other ways to get ethanol like cellulosic ethanol. Thing is that, due to the high price of the barrel of oil, makes of major importance to begin using ethanol mixed with oil in car's fuel as a first step to other technologies, more expensive, like Hybrid cars or hydrogen fuel cells. But nothing comes free of problems -- the problem of biofuels is the effect on the reduction of soil for agriculture, meaning the reduction of food. We must not forget also the increase in world population --- there are so many challenges in the future, but we must start making changes and start adapting to a world with less oil in a sustainable way. Energy now is a matter of national security. Let's Shuck the Sheiks and Chavez!