view the rest of the comments
Ask Science
Ask a science question, get a science answer.
Community Rules
Rule 1: Be respectful and inclusive.
Treat others with respect, and maintain a positive atmosphere.
Rule 2: No harassment, hate speech, bigotry, or trolling.
Avoid any form of harassment, hate speech, bigotry, or offensive behavior.
Rule 3: Engage in constructive discussions.
Contribute to meaningful and constructive discussions that enhance scientific understanding.
Rule 4: No AI-generated answers.
Strictly prohibit the use of AI-generated answers. Providing answers generated by AI systems is not allowed and may result in a ban.
Rule 5: Follow guidelines and moderators' instructions.
Adhere to community guidelines and comply with instructions given by moderators.
Rule 6: Use appropriate language and tone.
Communicate using suitable language and maintain a professional and respectful tone.
Rule 7: Report violations.
Report any violations of the community rules to the moderators for appropriate action.
Rule 8: Foster a continuous learning environment.
Encourage a continuous learning environment where members can share knowledge and engage in scientific discussions.
Rule 9: Source required for answers.
Provide credible sources for answers. Failure to include a source may result in the removal of the answer to ensure information reliability.
By adhering to these rules, we create a welcoming and informative environment where science-related questions receive accurate and credible answers. Thank you for your cooperation in making the Ask Science community a valuable resource for scientific knowledge.
We retain the discretion to modify the rules as we deem necessary.
For answers to historical questions, please check out our sister community: !askhistorians@lemmy.world
So the reflection is essentially what the sulfur in diesel used to do. Diesel is now ultralow sulfur because it was learned that low sulfur diesel greatly reduced the particulate and ozone precursor (not good to breathe in) emission from diesel engines.
Baking soda seems safe but doing it globally where it would 1)affect clouds and rain, 2) when it falls alter water and soil chemistry and be breathed in would cause yet unknown harms. Making that much baking soda would also increase greenhouse and probably have effects on aircraft longevity-again causing more greenhouse.
Similarly corn ethanol that is added to gas in the US reduces fuel efficiency and increases greenhouse because the corn is made for purpose and subsidized rather than just excess.
The alternatives are reduced greenhouse via reduction of fossil fuel subsidies combined with renewables and infrastructure to mitigate and survive the changes.
And, more generally: We messed up by science without understanding long term consequences. Doing more global scale science without ability to understand impact on complexity seems like a bad idea.
Nonsense. Oil propaganda.
Ethanol has about 30% less energy per liter than gasoline. So a 10% ethanol:gasoline mix has about 3% less possible energy than 100% gasoline. That carries over into the mileage. and its worse in cold weather. Newer engines do use it better but you can't beat basic energy density.
40% of corn in the US is used for ethanol production. Its a shitton of other resources including land, fertilization, etc in order to do so.
https://mechbasic.com/does-ethanol-in-petrol-reduce-mileage/ https://www.newindianexpress.com/business/2025/Aug/05/govt-admits-lower-mileage-in-ethanol-blended-fuel
https://www.opensubsidies.org/analysis/ethanol-subsidy-machine https://www.taxpayer.net/energy-natural-resources/understanding-u-s-corn-ethanol-and-other-corn-based-biofuels-subsidies/