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LuckyHedgehog t1_ixmjvn3 wrote

Reply to comment by 96vette in U.S. Renewable Energy Will Surge Past Coal and Nuclear by Year’s End by VanillaSwimming5699

The article clearly defines what forms of renewables are projected to overtake coal and nuclear though. I'm not sure how you started talking about ethanol

>The government energy tracker predicts that wind, solar and hydro will generate 22 percent of U.S. electricity by the end of this year. That is more than coal at 20 percent and nuclear at 19 percent.

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96vette t1_ixmmxrc wrote

You’re right! I skipped over the subheading stating wind, solar and hydro power are the renewables they are talking about. Ethanol is considered a renewable by the government. It is blended with gasoline to reduce dependence on oil. Ethanol is a less efficient fuel than gas and is corrosive, so not a great ICE fuel.

Our conversion away from fossil fuels encouraging. There is more than just changing fuel sources though. For example, the small manufacturing plant where I worked had four gas fired heat treating furnaces with a cost of $5 million each. These will need to be replaced with electric furnaces, a significant capital investment.

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