Comments on: Ethanol, Texas, and a Waiver Request http://redgreenandblue.org/2008/07/25/ethanol-texas-and-a-waiver-request/ Patriotism that loves our country, our land, and our planet Wed, 23 May 2012 01:08:04 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.2 By: Tim http://redgreenandblue.org/2008/07/25/ethanol-texas-and-a-waiver-request/comment-page-1/#comment-4112 Tim Sat, 26 Jul 2008 18:47:15 +0000 http://redgreenandblue.org/?p=558#comment-4112 It is good that the biofuel issue is receiving increasing critical evaluation, but I think that an important aspect of the situation is lost in the debates: the environmental impact of growing biofuels. It's always food vs fuel, but the biggest problem with many biofuel production schemes is not that they push out food production; rather, they deplete topsoils, overuse fertilizers and pesticides, and generally tax the environment due to high yield agricultural practices (See <a href="http://www.brightfuture.us/new/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=157&Itemid=71" rel="nofollow">The Great Biofuel Hoax of 2008</a>). It is good that the biofuel issue is receiving increasing critical evaluation, but I think that an important aspect of the situation is lost in the debates: the environmental impact of growing biofuels. It's always food vs fuel, but the biggest problem with many biofuel production schemes is not that they push out food production; rather, they deplete topsoils, overuse fertilizers and pesticides, and generally tax the environment due to high yield agricultural practices (See The Great Biofuel Hoax of 2008).

]]> By: Rod Adams http://redgreenandblue.org/2008/07/25/ethanol-texas-and-a-waiver-request/comment-page-1/#comment-4089 Rod Adams Sat, 26 Jul 2008 02:14:04 +0000 http://redgreenandblue.org/?p=558#comment-4089 The ethanol battle is shaping up to be one of epic proportions, because there is a lot of passion and money at stake on both sides. It has the potential for producing some really strange alliances like the one that you mentioned between meat and poultry producers and environmentalists with perhaps some anti-poverty campaigners in the mix. On the pro-ethanol side, you have a group called Alliance for Abundant Food and Energy that includes agribusiness companies like ADM, Monsanto, and Deer (tractors). Their natural friends would be grain farmers, railroads (both corn and ethanol are generally shipped by rail, not pipelines) and auto manufacturers who are getting credits for flexible fuel vehicles. <a href="http://biofuelsdigest.com/blog2/2008/07/25/adm-monsanto-deer-and-dupont-form-alliance-for-abundant-food-and-energy-to-lobby-for-ethanol-budget-in-multimillions/" rel="nofollow">Biofuels Digest</a> had an interesting post on this topic. Fun to watch, but the sad part is that all of this battling and political positioning is not really going to solve much of our energy challenge since ethanol is just a marginal source of energy in the first place. (Oops - did I let my bias show?) The politicians and media are both in a position to benefit - the ad revenues will fly as will the campaign contributions and lobbying efforts. The ethanol battle is shaping up to be one of epic proportions, because there is a lot of passion and money at stake on both sides. It has the potential for producing some really strange alliances like the one that you mentioned between meat and poultry producers and environmentalists with perhaps some anti-poverty campaigners in the mix.

On the pro-ethanol side, you have a group called Alliance for Abundant Food and Energy that includes agribusiness companies like ADM, Monsanto, and Deer (tractors). Their natural friends would be grain farmers, railroads (both corn and ethanol are generally shipped by rail, not pipelines) and auto manufacturers who are getting credits for flexible fuel vehicles.

Biofuels Digest had an interesting post on this topic.

Fun to watch, but the sad part is that all of this battling and political positioning is not really going to solve much of our energy challenge since ethanol is just a marginal source of energy in the first place. (Oops – did I let my bias show?)

The politicians and media are both in a position to benefit – the ad revenues will fly as will the campaign contributions and lobbying efforts.

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