The Ethanol Lies are coming 'round to bite its supporters
Now some may think that this is beating a dead horse, however as long as the ethanol mandates are in place, it's not.
"The enormous volume of corn required by the ethanol industry is sending shock waves through the food system. (The United States accounts for some 40 percent of the world's total corn production and over half of all corn exports.) In March 2007, corn futures rose to over $4.38 a bushel, the highest level in ten years. Wheat and rice prices have also surged to decade highs, because even as those grains are increasingly being used as substitutes for corn, farmers are planting more acres with corn and fewer acres with other crops.
This might sound like nirvana to corn producers, but it is hardly that for consumers, especially in poor developing countries, who will be hit with a double shock if both food prices and oil prices stay high. The World Bank has estimated that in 2001, 2.7 billion people in the world were living on the equivalent of less than $2 a day; to them, even marginal increases in the cost of staple grains could be devastating. filling the 25-gallon tank of an SUV with pure ethanol requires over 450 pounds of corn -- which contains enough calories to feed one person for a year. By putting pressure on global supplies of edible crops, the surge in ethanol production will translate into higher prices for both processed and staple foods around the world. Biofuels have tied oil and food prices together in ways that could profoundly upset the relationships between food producers, consumers, and nations in the years ahead, with potentially devastating implications for both global poverty and food security."
WCCO ran a story last night that talked about how the cost of corn is causing the cost of staples such as eggs to go up (30% so far according to the televised report). Back in February, I posted about how the cost of corn (for tortillas) has gone up a resounding 400% in Mexico.
Then Kevin over at Eckernet found a story that blows up all the reasons why ethanol is supposedly better than gasoline.
"Scientists at Environment Canada studied four vehicles of recent makes, testing their emissions in a range for driving conditions and temperatures.
"Looking at tailpipe emissions, from a greenhouse gas perspective, there really isn't much difference between ethanol and gasoline," said Greg Rideout, head of Environment Canada's toxic emissions research. (emphasis mine)
Oh snap - that's gonna leave a mark.
I think I will email this to Governor Pawlenty and to Senator Coleman. Maybe this will get them off of the ethanol train finally.
"The enormous volume of corn required by the ethanol industry is sending shock waves through the food system. (The United States accounts for some 40 percent of the world's total corn production and over half of all corn exports.) In March 2007, corn futures rose to over $4.38 a bushel, the highest level in ten years. Wheat and rice prices have also surged to decade highs, because even as those grains are increasingly being used as substitutes for corn, farmers are planting more acres with corn and fewer acres with other crops.
This might sound like nirvana to corn producers, but it is hardly that for consumers, especially in poor developing countries, who will be hit with a double shock if both food prices and oil prices stay high. The World Bank has estimated that in 2001, 2.7 billion people in the world were living on the equivalent of less than $2 a day; to them, even marginal increases in the cost of staple grains could be devastating. filling the 25-gallon tank of an SUV with pure ethanol requires over 450 pounds of corn -- which contains enough calories to feed one person for a year. By putting pressure on global supplies of edible crops, the surge in ethanol production will translate into higher prices for both processed and staple foods around the world. Biofuels have tied oil and food prices together in ways that could profoundly upset the relationships between food producers, consumers, and nations in the years ahead, with potentially devastating implications for both global poverty and food security."
WCCO ran a story last night that talked about how the cost of corn is causing the cost of staples such as eggs to go up (30% so far according to the televised report). Back in February, I posted about how the cost of corn (for tortillas) has gone up a resounding 400% in Mexico.
Then Kevin over at Eckernet found a story that blows up all the reasons why ethanol is supposedly better than gasoline.
"Scientists at Environment Canada studied four vehicles of recent makes, testing their emissions in a range for driving conditions and temperatures.
"Looking at tailpipe emissions, from a greenhouse gas perspective, there really isn't much difference between ethanol and gasoline," said Greg Rideout, head of Environment Canada's toxic emissions research. (emphasis mine)
Oh snap - that's gonna leave a mark.
I think I will email this to Governor Pawlenty and to Senator Coleman. Maybe this will get them off of the ethanol train finally.
Labels: Ethanol Fraud, Global Climate Change
posted by The Lady Logician at
4:59 PM
3 Comments:
"Ethanol LIes"? A bit hyperbolic don't you think?
The changeover from non-renewable fuels to renewable fuels will be painful in some respects and will require deployments that are less than ideal to get to solutions that will successfully free us from our addiction to oil. It will take time and beg your patient indulgence - unless you have a better, faster solution.
Your complaints are all about Generation 1 ethanol - principally in the U.S. from corn. Six different approaches of Generation 2&3 developments are already funded and are in the early pre-deployment stage. They represent a significantly better energy and emissions profile than Generation 1. Rather than food feedstocks, they rely on wastes from agriculture, forestry, and urban ecologies. Solving one problem by solving many others.
Rather than fostering an attitude of negativism about the efforts of many who are trying to solve the problem of ending the oil addiction with the attendent benefit of cleaner emissions, why not read up on the full scope of these emerging technologies and support them?
I have and I do. You can read my "logic" at Bioconversion Blog - http://bioconversion.blogspot.com.
By
C. Scott Miller, at 1:40 PM
It's just appalling what ignoramuses we seem to elect to pass laws to govern us. Any fool with a little basic knowledge of chemistry knows that if you burn gasoline (C5H12) you get 5 CO2 and 6 H20. If you burn ethanol (C2H5OH), you get 2 CO2 and 3 H20, but not quite as much energy (even if you burn 2-1/2 ethanols). Both CO2 and H2O are greenhouse gasses, but 99.99% of water vapor is natural, as is roughly 96% of CO2. Using ethanol to save the planet is silly.
J. Ewing
By
Anonymous, at 8:57 PM
"The changeover from non-renewable fuels to renewable fuels will be painful in some respects"
How true.
Do you know for absolute certain oil is not "renewable"? Do you even know how much oil is available? We call it fossil fuel, but do we really know this? Isn't it true that oil is bubbling up out of sea beds all around the planet?
I would think looking at improving existing technology (shale?) would be more far more productive than burning our food. The ethanol yield from one acre of corn is pathetic.
By
Kermit, at 3:40 PM
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