TPO 22

In this set of materials, both the reading and the lecturer discuss ethanol fuel that makes from plants such as corn and the possibility of replacement from gasoline. Although the passage provides three theories against the use of ethanol fuel for reducing global warming, the speaker refutes all of the arguments described in this reporter.

To start off, the passage points out that ethanol fuel cannot help to reduce carbon dioxide, and carbon dioxide is released by combusting ethanol fuel. The lecturer, in contrast, rejects this by claiming that using ethanol fuel will not add to global warming. Because ethanol fuel is produced by plants such as corn that can remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. He explains that plants need carbon dioxide to grow. In this situation, they absorb carbon dioxide from the air for growing; hence, the ethanol fuel would reduce global warming.

Going through the next approach, the reading passage states that producing ethanol fuel can reduce the amount of animals food that uses corn as food. Nevertheless, the professor argues that ethanol fuel is produced by cellulose of the corn. The cellulose is produced in cell walls that animals do not use as food. Therefore, producing ethanol does not necessarily have to diminish animal food resources.

Finally, although the passage says that the ethanol fuel would not compete with the gasoline on price because the government will not eliminate the ethanol fuel's tax, the speaker disagrees by mentioning that government support will not always be needed. He adds that when more people use ethanol, producers will increase their production and subsequently the price of the ethanol decreases. He says that recent research showed that three times greater produce of ethanol will result in a forty per cent drop in its price.