According to FarmPolicy.com every member of congress now has discovered ethanol.
Clearly prohibition is dead as a political concept in the US. Thank heavens it wasn't anything stronger.
More seriously though, FarmPolicy continues
“Some U.S. officials including some at the Energy Department worry that U.S. farmers won’t be able to grow enough corn to meet higher clean fuel targets.
“Thanks to the ethanol boom, the U.S. corn surplus will shrink to a precarious 752 million bushels — a three-week supply — before this year’s crop is ready for harvest, the U.S. Agriculture Department said last week.
You can also expect soya bean prices to rise as around 10% of the current area of that crop may be switched into corn production to meet the demand for fuel ethanol.
Worth exploring the rest of that post!
Comments (1)
Simon,
compliments on an extensive blog!
I too worry about the mad dash to be green using corn, wheat or sugar. As you highlight it, 3 weeks supply of corn is dangerously low if the world hits a serious disaster somewhere. There is something inherently unethical about using food as fuel if it means that we are driving up global prices to a level when others cannot afford it. BASF was arguing just this way before Christmas, saying that second generation bio-ethanol really is important, along with new crop protection chemicals and alternative plants being used. Europe is doing its bit by creating a Biofuels technology Platform to help steer strategic developments, but at present it seems a far too weak an effort. It is also interesting to see that in order to become green, i.e to boost the bioethanol content of their petrol, India is running out of bio-feedstock. One suggested solution is to lease sugar cane land in Brazil. I wonder what that would to protect the rainforest? At this rate feedstock for bio-ethanol is in danger of becoming the new cash crop like tea or coffee, something which is preventing local population from growing crops relevant to them, but is sold off for the comfort of others.
We need more science, alas that means scientists, which our education system is not really producing enough of, but that is another story...
cheers
Magne
Posted by Magne Haugseng | January 19, 2007 9:09 AM
Posted on January 19, 2007 09:09