Quote Originally Posted by cigar no baka
I couldn't agree more, there are better scientific answers than ethanol, but politics drives the ethanol debate, not science. Put some scientists in charge of finding fuel alternatives and keep the damn politicians out of it and we'll be have the oil monkey off our back and revolutionize the way they world gets its energy!!!
There's a certain amount of public perception and advertising that goes along with fuels, as well.

They hybrid engine is a GREAT example of marketing. Electric cars seem silly to Americans, but some percentage want the fuel economy of an electric car. Thus the hybrid is born. It's electric enough for the hippies, but also runs off readily-available gasoline.

The trade-off with hybrid cars is weight. It's cute to want to use an electric engine, but the reality is you have to make a car with 2 engines... AND a bunch of heavy lead-acid batteries to run that electric motor. Hmm. That's a lot of extra weight.

We could (and have) made purely gasoline vehicles with better gas mileage than hybrid vehicles (and from what I hear, hybrid cars don't often hit those advertised mpg numbers). But hybrids will continue to be popular because they APPEAR to be more eco-friendly.

And don't even get me started on plastic vs. sheet steel body panels. :)
(I'm a scientist AND I drive a Saturn)