I wish we did.

Does the cost benefit scenarios include cuting your oil changes in half because or oil stays cleaner longer?

Does the cost benefit scenarios include a proper mileage figure for a car the is built to run on ethanol higher octane?

Does the cost benefit scenarios include the cost of being vaporized for funding the nuclear ambitions of an ememy sworn to God to eliminate the US due to its sinful nasty life style?

That’s the beauty of money. The cost/benefit calculations can account for future scenarios if you want to make a long term argument. Most people focus on much shorter terms where the costs are easy to understand. It just so happens that ethanol’s problems can be seen in the short term (efficiency vs price vs storage & distribution) as well as the long term (environmental damage and sustainability).

A capitalist society means people and companies will move away from ethanol because of these factors – unless there are plenty of subsidies and kickbacks to go around.

I know, in California, hydrogen produced by solar power and plug in hybrids are the answer.

This is the primary problem with these eco ideas. Ignoring economics for the sake of everything else dooms it from the start.

It’s interesting that most of the harsh words about ethanol are price based. I guess we do live in a capitalist society. Ethanol supporters often note all the other problems with gasoline (foreign wars, non-renewable, carbon liberation) but then forget corn ethanol’s problems: topsoil depletion, topsoil erosion, rivers polluted by fertilizer runoff, massive water use, pesticide use, monoculture, use of non-renewable fertilizers. Hybridized corn isn’t a native plant and isn’t exactly easy on the ecosystem.