Due to record demand for corn for livestock feed and ethanol production, prices have jumped 30% in the first few months of 2008.
As I’ve written here before, corn-based ethanol looks like a dead-end with grave ecological consequences. Biofuel in general is likely a bad idea, if for no other reason than replacing food crops with fuel crops will simply accelerate global destabilization.
Why is the US government pushing increased ethanol use and throwing hundreds of millions of dollars at the task?
But wait, you might say; aren’t there other, superior ways to make ethanol? Like, say, algae? Isn’t ethanol dependence better than oil dependence?
The signs are already here, dear reader: the answer is no.
Here in Portland, however, the self-described “green” capitol, we’re aiming to be the biofuel capital of the nation. In fact, we’ve enacted an ordinance requiring gas stations to sell ethanol and biodiesel.
It’s hard to stop a moving train, isn’t it?
4 responses so far ↓
1 Kernels of Truth // Apr 4, 2008 at 11:17 am
[…] girl Mark wrote an interesting post today onHere’s a quick excerpt Due to record demand for corn for livestock feed and ethanol production, prices have jumped 30% in the first few months of 2008. As I’ve written here before, corn-based ethanol looks like a dead-end with grave ecological consequences. Biofuel in general is likely a bad idea, if for no other reason than replacing food crops with fuel crops will simply accelerate global destabilization. Why is the US government pushing increased ethanol use and throwing hundreds of millions of dollars at […]
2 George Seldes // Apr 4, 2008 at 7:15 pm
Thank you for this. I hope you are able to reach some Portland enviros with the message, because Oregon (thanks to Jackie Dingfelder and crew) — with full support of people who claim to be environmentalists (Oregon League of Conservation Voters, Oregon Environmental Council, to name just two biggies) — is making an extra big contribution to helping starve people across the world and make climate change worse, thanks to Rep. Dingfelder’s tax breaks for agrofuels. So not only do we have the insane federal tax breaks for agrofuels, Oregon adds an ADDITIONAL subsidy to the pot — so now we have Iowa corn coming to Oregon to be made into ethanol to feed to SUVs to carry Oregonians to meetings where they can talk about how greenhouse gas emissions just keep increasing at an increasing rate, and boy, aren’t food prices terrible.
I would far rather talk to an outright climate change denier than I would talk to someone who claims to be concerned about it but supports agrofuels.
3 ecohuman // Apr 7, 2008 at 12:11 pm
thanks, George. My biggest concern is the headlong rush by government and minimally informed folks to both subsidize and promote an even more dangerous and destructive fuel source–food crops and food land.
4 George Seldes // Jul 21, 2008 at 8:06 pm
Maybe we ought to just focus on cutting the need for liquid fuels:
OECD: BIOFUELS INEFFECTIVE AT CURBING GLOBAL WARMING
PARIS, France, July 17, 2008 (ENS) - Government financial support of biofuel production in the world’s wealthiest countries is costly, has a limited impact on reducing greenhouse gases and improving energy security, and raises world crop prices, finds a new study of policies to promote greater production and use of biofuels in OECD countries.
http://www.ens-newswire.com/ens/jul2008/2008-07-17-02.asp
HYDROGEN CARS WILL NEED MULTI-BILLION DOLLAR JUMPSTART
By J.R. Pegg
WASHINGTON, DC, July 18, 2008 (ENS) - It will take massive subsidies from the U.S. government to make hydrogen fuel cell vehicles a significant part of the nation’s transportation future, according to a National Research Council report released Thursday. The study finds that even under a best-case scenario only about two million hydrogen fuel cell vehicles will be on American roads by 2020.
http://www.ens-newswire.com/ens/jul2008/2008-07-18-10.asp
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