TPO 22 Ethanol Fuel

The reading and the lecture are both about whether it is good idea to use ethanol as a fuel. The author of the reading believese there are three reasons why it is not advantageous. The lecturer challenges the statements made by the author. He is of the opinion that using ethanol fuel is good alternative to gasoline.
First of all, the author suggests that using ethanol will not solve global warming problem. It is mentioned that ethanol emit carbon dioxide when it is burned. The argument is refuted by the lecturer. He says ethanol will not increase global warming. Furthermore, he argues that it is made from corn plant. Hence, corn plan will counteract the it will absorb carbon dioxide from atmosphere.
Secondly, the article posits that for making ethanol, large amount of corn plants are need. Hence, it will cause shortage of available food source for animals who feed on the plants. The article notes in order to satisfy just 10 percent of the fuel for U.S, over 60 percent of the corn plants are required to be used. As a result, significant amount of food for animals just vanish. The lecturer, however, casts doubt on this by asserting that not all plant pieces would be used for ethanol production. The lecturer elaborates on this by mentioning that the part called cellulos of the corn plant are not eaten by animals, and this part is need for ethanol making.
Finally, it is stated in the reading that ethanol will never beat gasoline in terms of price. The author establishes that only due to the government tax helping policy, the ethanol price is comparable to that of the gasoline. Otherwise, the price would have been much higher. The lecturer, on the other hand, opposes that in future the ethanol price will compete with that of the gasoline. He puts forth the idea that the government interference is not always needed because if more people buy it, the price will probably go down. In addition, he estimated that if the ethanol is available just the three times more than that of today, the cost of production will drop significantly.