Date last Updated:
08/13/2008
The Ethanol Delusion
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Expanding ethanol use will not reduce global warming, bring down gas
prices, relieve our dependence on foreign oil, starve terrorists of
funding, restore the family farm, or create jobs. In fact, using
more ethanol increases greenhouse gas production and local air
pollution and is water-intensive as well as land-intensive.
Nanoscale catalysts turn waste material into ethanol
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AMES, Iowa –Say the word “biofuels” and most people think of grain
ethanol and biodiesel. But there’s another, older technology called
gasification that’s getting a new look from researchers at the U.S.
Department of Energy’s Ames Laboratory and Iowa State University.
By combining gasification with high-tech nanoscale porous catalysts,
they hope to create ethanol from a wide range of biomass, including
distiller’s grain left over from ethanol production, corn stover
from the field, grass, wood pulp, animal waste, and garbage.
Slow down the ethanol juggernaut.
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Washington's command-and-control approach to the
promotion of ethanol and other biofuels has
unleashed a host of unintended consequences.
The main culprit: the federal mandate forcing 9
billion gallons of ethanol to be produced this
year. Satisfying the mandate has diverted
roughly 30 percent of U.S. corn production to
biofuels. And while the ethanol requirement is
not the only factor roiling global food markets
-- the falling dollar and rising energy prices
have also hiked costs -- if the mandate did not
exist, more corn would be available to feed
people and livestock.
Uprising Against the Ethanol Mandate - NYTimes.com
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The ethanol industry, until recently a golden child that got
favorable treatment from Washington, is facing a critical
decision on its future.
Gov.
Rick Perry of Texas is asking the
Environmental Protection Agency to temporarily waive
regulations requiring the oil industry to blend ever-increasing
amounts of ethanol into gasoline. A decision is expected in the
next few weeks.
Mr. Perry says the billions of bushels of corn being used to
produce all that mandated ethanol would be better suited as
livestock feed than as fuel.
Feed prices have soared in the last two years as fuel has
begun competing with food for cropland.
“When you find yourself in a hole, you have to quit digging,”
Mr. Perry said in an interview. “And we are in a hole.”
Governors talk of moving beyond corn-based ethanol.
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PHILADELPHIA (AP) - Governors from the coal fields of West
Virginia to the corn fields of Iowa talked Sunday at their summer
meeting about moving beyond ethanol produced just from food sources.
They sometimes have different priorities in reaching this
conclusion - priorities that can be as simple as who grows corn and
who feeds it to livestock.
And they're also not talking about replacement so much as
supplementing: using switchgrass or wood waste products, for
example, along with corn.
Tropical Biofuels Getting Less and Less Green.
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A new analysis suggests that biofuels grown in the tropics are not a
much greener source of energy than drilling for oil--at least in the
short term. The research paints an even gloomier picture of biofuels
than previous studies, which have begun to cast doubts on the
greenhouse gas benefits that these alternatives to petroleum might
provide.
TheHill.com - GOP candidates to visit ANWR to promote drilling
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Five Republican congressional candidates will travel to the Arctic
National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska to promote drilling there to
reduce the U.S.’s dependence on foreign oil.
“With gas prices at an all-time high, we need to take steps now to
reduce our dependence on foreign oil,” said trip participant Craig
Williams, who is challenging Joe Sestak (D-Pa.). “We have energy
resources available to us domestically that can cut our dependence
on foreign oil and provide a bridge to tomorrow when we can more
heavily rely on renewable energy resources such as hydro-electric,
solar and wind power.”
VeraSun Energy puts 3rd ethanol plant on hold
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NEW YORK (Associated Press) - Ethanol producer VeraSun Energy Corp.
on Wednesday raised to three the number of newly built production
facilities whose startup is being delayed due to "volatility in the
market."
Texas Governor Rick Perry's ethanol stance stirs up backers, foes |
Dallas Morning News | News for Dallas, Texas | Texas Regional News
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WASHINGTON –
Texas Gov.
Rick Perry
has touched
off a new
battle over
America's
use of
corn-based
ethanol,
dividing the
powerful
agricultural
lobby and
forcing
regulators
to grapple
with the
fuel's
impact on
food prices.
Pacific Ethanol shares fall after McCain interview, USDA report -
Sacramento Business Journal:
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Shares of Pacific Ethanol plummeted almost 6 percent in trading
Wednesday, a day after the U.S. Department of Agriculture reported a
lower-than-expected corn harvest and Republican presidential
candidate John McCain said the federal government should end ethanol
subsidies.
Brazilian president slams U.S. corn ethanol.
FREEWHEELING / Ethanol gets a possible comeback
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Ethanol - essentially grain
alcohol - has been used as a fuel since the birth of the
internal-combustion engine. Moving into this century, several
carmakers have been promoting ethanol (blended with gasoline) as a
way to reduce the nation's dependence on foreign oil and to reduce
emissions.
Corn ethanol plant stalls, with sustainability doubts and financing
crunch
Study: Ethanol Production Consumes Six Units Of Energy To Produce
Just One
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In 2004, approximately 3.57 billion gallons of ethanol were used
as a gas additive in the United States, according to the Renewable
Fuels Association (RFA). During the February State of the Union
address, President George Bush urged Congress to pass an energy bill
that would pump up the amount to 5 billion gallons by 2012. UC
Berkeley geoengineering professor Tad W. Patzek thinks that's a very
bad idea.
NEW TREND IN BIOFUELS HAS NEW RISKS | National Center for Policy
Analysis
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In the past year, as the diversion of food crops
like corn and palm to make biofuels has helped to
drive up food prices, investors and politicians have
begun promoting newer, so-called second-generation
biofuels as the next wave of green energy. These,
made from non-food crops like reeds and wild
grasses, would offer fuel without the risk of taking
food off the table, says the New York Times.
But now, biologists and botanists are warning
that they, too, may bring serious unintended
consequences:
- Most of these newer crops are what
scientists label invasive species -- that is,
weeds -- that have an extraordinarily high
potential to escape biofuel plantations.
- Once they do, they overrun adjacent farms
and natural land, and create economic and
ecological havoc in the process.
- Currently, the Global Invasive Species
Program estimates that the damage from all
invasive species costs the world more than $1.4
trillion annually -- five percent of the global
economy.
|
Senator promotes bill to freeze ethanol mandate | Reuters
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WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Texas Republican Sen.
Kay Bailey Hutchison introduced legislation
on Monday to freeze the federal mandate for
corn-based ethanol at this year's current
level of 9 billion gallons.
Hutchison said her legislation allows for
necessary adjustments in the renewable fuel
standard to transition to a more realistic
and sustainable source which does not use
food for fuel.
Administration allies strike against ethanol critics - MarketWatch
WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- Friends of the White
House are lashing back against an anti-ethanol campaign. Agriculture
Secretary Ed Schafer defended ethanol at a press event Monday,
saying that developing diversity in the U.S. portfolio of fuel is
central to security. In response to recent reports that the Grocery
Manufacturers Association paid a public-relations firm to campaign
against ethanol, Schafer said "clearly we have a difference of
opinion with the GMA."
Rethinking Ethanol - New York Times
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The time has come for
Congress to rethink ethanol, an alternative
fuel that has lately fallen from favor.
Specifically, it is time to end an outdated
tax break for corn ethanol and to call a
timeout in the fivefold increase in ethanol
production mandated in the 2007 energy bill.
Food crisis provides opening for array of ethanol opponents
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NEW YORK (Associated Press) - The global rise in food
prices is giving political ammunition to opponents of the country's
ethanol policy and creating some uncertainty for the burgeoning and
heavily subsidized biofuels industry.
Corn Ethanol Loses More Support - WSJ.com
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Rising food prices are prodding lawmakers in
Washington to rethink support for corn ethanol.
Two dozen Republican senators on Friday --
including Republican presidential candidate John McCain (R., Ariz.)
-- asked the Environmental Protection Agency to ease requirements
mandated by Congress in 2007 to blend more ethanol and other
renewable fuels into the gasoline supply.
Congress Tackles Food Costs, Ethanol - Forbes.com
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Global food shortages are becoming an increasing
reality. The reasons behind it are weighty and numerous.
Food prices have risen worldwide, leading to riots
in some countries, rice and flour smuggling in others and thinner
wallets all around.
ADM
3rd-qtr profit rises; shrs off on ethanol worry.
(My Comment)
There's hope!
Ethanol:
It Looks Cheaper, But Looks Can Be Deceiving|NewsChannel 8
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Seeking relief from high gas prices? There's a new
gas station offering fuel for under $3.00 per gallon. But, is it
really worth it in the long run?
It's for the alternative fuel E-85, the ethanol-based fuel made
mostly from corn. Its logo has a bunch of clouds in a drop of water.
Eco-friendly, feel-good fuel. And, the icing on the cake is the
price so beautiful you'll start drooling.
Texas
Governor Seeks Waiver on Ethanol Rules - Economy * US * News * Story
- CNBC.com
Undoing America's Ethanol Mistake
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The Nobel Prize-winning economist Milton Friedman
once said, "One of the great mistakes is to judge policies and
programs by their intentions rather than their results."
When Congress passed legislation to greatly expand
America's commitment to biofuels, it intended to create energy
independence and protect the environment
Ethanol pumped in all states but not everyone sold on
it
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Ethanol has a toe-hold in every
state, pushed by increased production, government
subsidies and people looking to save a few pennies
at the pump.
"For the
farmer, it's another market for our product -- this
is a good thing," said Mike Clemens, a Wimbledon
farmer and a director of the North Dakota Corn
Growers Association.
"Corn is an American-made product
that we convert into an American-made fuel," Clemens
said. "It lessens the reliance on foreign oil, helps
the economy and helps the farmer -- I don't know why
anybody wouldn't like it."
Harvesting Trouble: Pressure Grows on EU to Abandon Biofuels -
International - SPIEGEL ONLINE - News
It's time to scrap the ethanol boondoggle.
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Government-funded conversion to "biofuels"
such as ethanol is scarcely helping
with energy efficiency and is
exacerbating a global food crisis.
It's time for Canada to reverse
course on this failed approach.
Ethanol pro and con: New energy source means brighter future |
ajc.com
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The
pursuit of 21st-century energy solutions is an
urgent concern of American consumers and our
government. With the average price of gasoline
in the United States climbing to more than $3.50
a gallon in some cities, drivers cringe when
they pull up to the pump. And while the economic
impact of a petroleum-based energy system
affects virtually every American, so do the
consequences for national security.
Technology Review: Corn Primed for Making Biofuel
Shoots and leaves: To
facilitate the breakdown of cellulose into fermentable sugars for
making ethanol, Mariam Sticklen of Michigan State University is
genetically modifying corn with genes that produce
cellulose-degrading enzymes in the plant’s stems and leaves. The
enzymes are activated only after the corn is harvested, when the
plant is ground up.
Credit: Michigan State University
Is Ethanol's Carbon Footprint Bad? It Depends.
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In the cleantech and carbon worlds, the carbon
footprint of ethanol, whether from corn or sugar feedstocks and
fermentation processes, or enzymatic or thermochemical cellulosic
sources, is always good fodder (or perhaps, "fuel") for debate.
The ethanol tax (Minnesota).
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For all the talk about the
ruin to be caused by the gas tax increase in Minnesota,
comparatively little is said in the state these days about the
"ethanol tax," which has had a significant impact in the cost of
operating a vehicle and may, according to some people, have a
role in rapidly increasing food prices.
Can't eat ethanol - The Boston Globe
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CORN should be used
for food, not motor fuel, and yet
the United States is committed to a
policy that encourages farmers to
turn an increasing amount of their
crop into ethanol. This may save the
nation a bit of the cost of imported
oil, but it increases global-warming
gases and contributes to higher food
prices.
Ethanol And Hunger.
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For most Americans, the rising prices at the
supermarket are definitely an annoyance, but hardly a threat to life
and health. It's a different story in countries like Haiti, where
food inflation has led to real hunger and, last week, to riots.
Time to end ethanol experiment - Thu, Apr 10, 2008
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Evidence of the negative impact and
inefficiency of biofuels, especially corn ethanol,
requires an immediate end to their subsidization and
potential mandated usage.
The most immediate impact has been
felt in escalating food prices. Because corn has
been diverted to subsidized ethanol, and less wheat
planted to increase this diversion, we have
experienced price increases in cereal, dairy, and
meat products. Besides this, the evidence is in that
corn ethanol is not a clean-burning fuel, and its
all-out production has added to environmental
pollution.
Breakthrough In Biofuel Production Process
Reason Magazine
- The Biggest Green Mistake, Biofuels and the global food crisis
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In the last year, the price of wheat has
tripled, corn
doubled, and rice almost
doubled. As prices soared, food riots have broken out in about
20 poor countries including
Yemen,
Haiti,
Egypt,
Pakistan,
Indonesia,
Ivory Coast,
and
Mexico. In response some countries, such as
India,
Pakistan
Egypt and
Vietnam, are banning the export of grains and imposing
food price controls.
Are rising food prices the result of the economic dynamism of China
and India, in which newly prosperous consumers are demanding more
food—especially more meat? Perennial doomsters such as the Earth
Policy Institute's Lester Brown predicted more than a decade ago
that China's growing food demand would destabilize global markets
and signal a permanent increase in grain prices. But that thesis has
so far not been borne out by the facts.
China is a net grain exporter.
India is also largely self-sufficient in grains. At some time in
the future, these countries may become net grain importers, but they
are not now and so cannot be blamed to for today's higher food
prices.
End the Ethanol Scam :: Liberty Maven
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The latest from
DownsizeDC.org urges us to
tell congress to stop wasting our tax
dollars on the devastating scam of ethanol
production.
Alert on risks of ethanol subsidies | The Australian
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THE
Productivity Commission wants the Rudd
Government tourgently review the
multi-million-dollar assistance for the ethanol
industry amid growing warnings the program is
pushing up the price of feed grain.
The commission's latest trade and assistance
review estimates the commonwealth will spend
$31.9 million on the ethanol production subsidy
scheme this financial year and demands a review
of the program as a matter of priority.
It warns that ethanol assistance is
increasing feed grain prices, echoing a research
paper by the Commonwealth Parliamentary Library
that found diverting feedstock to mandated
ethanol production would increase the trade
deficit.
Medill Reports: Less corn bad news for ethanol industry
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Charts
section for stats)
WASHINGTON --
More trouble is in store for
the already ailing ethanol
industry based on a
government report released
earlier this week.
The United
States Department of
Agriculture forecasts there
will be 8 percent fewer
acres of corn planted this
year compared with last
year, which will likely
raise the price and further
squeeze ethanol producers,
industry experts said.
Fuel or folly? / Ethanol and the law of unintended consequences
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In the
pantheon of well-intentioned governmental policies gone awry,
massive ethanol biofuel
production may go down as one of the biggest blunders in history. An
unholy alliance of environmentalists, agribusiness, biofuel
corporations and politicians has been
touting ethanol as the cure to
all our environmental ills, when in fact it may be doing
more harm than good. An array of
unintended consequences is wreaking havoc on the economy, food
production and, perhaps most ironically, the environment.
Ethanol A Myth? (Video)
Debating whether the promise of ethanol
is a myth, with Bob Dinneen, CEO of the
Renewable Fuel Association, and Jerry
Taylor, of the Cato Institute
Chief scientist revolts over biofuel legislation - earth - 29 March
2008 - New Scientist Environment
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Could biofuels do more damage
to the climate than the fossil fuels they
replace? That's the fear casting doubt on
the wisdom of a law that from next month
will require a certain proportion of vehicle
fuel to come from biological sources.
On Monday, Bob Watson, chief
scientist at the UK's Department of
Environment Food and Rural Affairs, called
into question the idea of switching to
biofuels. This follows the publication of
studies showing that more carbon is emitted
in producing some biofuels than is saved by
burning them in place of fossil fuels.
Former UK chief scientist David King also
denounced biofuels that displace food crops
and tropical rainforests.
Indian Oil plans to enter ethanol production.
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New Delhi, March 30 Indian Oil Corporation Ltd
(IOC) is studying various options for becoming an ethanol producer
from being just a buyer. The company would be looking at both
organic and inorganic prospects for expanding its business in the
bio-fuel category.
Mr B.M. Bansal, IOC’s Director, Planning and
Business Development, told Business Line that the company plans to
seek expert advice on whether it is viable to purchase sick sugar
mills or if it is better to set up a new project.
WMU researchers to study how to convert algae into ethanol -
NewsFlash - mlive.com
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KALAMAZOO, Mich. (AP) — A group
of Western Michigan University researchers
working to transform grease into biodiesel for
city buses is planning to research how to
effectively convert algae into ethanol.
Steven Bertman, a chemistry
professor, was among a group of investigators
who gave U.S. Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., a
presentation of their ideas Thursday, the
Kalamazoo Gazette reported.
U.S. ethanol margins up as corn slips | Environment | Reuters
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NEW YORK (Reuters) - Average profits for
distilling U.S. ethanol rose this week on
softer corn prices, but analysts were
cautious that a USDA planting report due on
Monday could be bad news for a continued
rise in profits.
Ethanol margins this week were about 10
cents higher at 25 to 35 cents-per-gallon
from the range seen in recent weeks on
softer corn prices, analysts estimated.
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Ethanol is a bad idea, on many levels. More specifically corn based
ethanol. Here are some facts about ethanol from an article by Ed
Wallace, a writer for Business Week. The article is entitled
Ethanol: A Tragedy in 3 Acts
- Ethanol increases VOC Emissions (as compared to "regular"
gas).
- Ethanol is heavily subsidized and most likely would not
survive on its own without being mandated.
- Fuel economy (gas mileage) drops by 25 to 30 percent using
ethanol.
- Ethanol takes more energy to create than it delivers. Taken
into account along with the loss of efficiency, ethanol is a net
energy waster.
- Ethanol can't be blended at refineries and pumped through
the nation's gasoline pipelines.
