Boaters despise ethanol. The substance that is mixed with most gasolines in America is only slightly less harmful to outboards than Saharan sand, and the growing numbers of boaters who have had motor trouble because of the stuff will drive three cities over to find a station that sells pure gasoline.
Some of the more environmentally minded don't mind making the sacrifice because the rise of ethanol is saving the world from the perils of fossil fuels.
Or at least that's what they thought.
A new study released Sunday shows some ethanol is actually worse for the environment than gasoline. The study was funded by the federal government and released in the peer-reviewed journal Nature Climate Change.
Researchers found that biofuels, like ethanol, made with corn residue release 7 percent more greenhouse gases into the atmosphere than conventional gasoline.
The benefits of ethanol are so low, the fuel doesn't even meet standards set in a 2007 energy law to qualify as a renewable fuel, according to the researchers.
The study deals a particularly harsh blow to the cellulosic biofuels industry, since it relies so heavily on corn residue. That industry has received more than a billion dollars in federal aid.
The Obama administration and representatives of Big Agriculture blasted the study's findings.
Todd Masson can be reached at email@example.com or 504.232.3054.