Can words describe how bad corn ethanol is?

[RedEarth]

Can words describe how bad corn ethanol is?

Well, maybe not my words, or Mayor Bloomberg’s or those of top scientists, but I think I have found someone’s who does: Opus’s from Bloom Country.

First, however, the lastest grim news from Fortune: “The ethanol boom is running out of gas as corn prices spike.” Yes, “plans for as many as 50 new ethanol plants have been shelved in recent months.” Why?

Spurred by an ethanol plant construction binge, corn prices have gone stratospheric, soaring from below $2 a bushel in 2006 to over $5.25 a bushel today. As a result, it’s become difficult for ethanol plants to make a healthy profit, even with oil at $100 a barrel.

If you can’t make money with oil at $100 a barrel, you are not much of an alternative fuel.

But I know what you’re thinking — if corn ethanol is so bad, what’s wrong with plants being scrapped? Well, the corn ethanol business is here to stay. The corn ethanol mandate from the most recent energy bill requires doubling supply from current levels. Fortune explains what that means:

What probably has changed permanently are ethanol economics. The days of cheap corn are over, and the industry’s new, lower profit margins clearly favor ethanol leader Archer Daniels Midland over all the smaller producers like Verasun, privately-held Poet Energy and the many, many farmer-owned ethanol cooperatives. ADM’s massive 200 million-gallon-a-year ethanol plants simply have better economies of scale than their 50-million-gallon-a-year rivals. And the fact some of ADM’s big plants run on coal instead of natural gas makes ADM’s cost advantage that much greater.

Just what we need, a shakeout that makes ADM richer and corn ethanol even dirtier.

http://climateprogress.org/2008/02/29/can-words-describe-how-truly-bad-corn-ethanol-is/

[Auggie]

1. Ethanol producers better pray there isn't ever drought in the midwest

[kristopher]

2. Does the adjective "very" work?

Howeverm I hope everyone understands the policy rationale of building demand and infrastructure to spur entrepreneurial innovations in efficiency.

I don't know if it is the most cost effective way of incentivising technological (especially biotech) improvements in the process, but it seems a pretty reasonable argument that in addition to being a handout to the farmers, it will accomplish a broader goal. In light of the circumstances I'd expect some tweaking of the legislation to shift emphasis away from corn.

[provis99]

3. Archer Daniels Midland is so evil they make General Electric look good

Its an open secret that they were the inspiration for the "U North" corporation in Michael Clayton.

[Warpy]

4. We use gasohol in this state every winter

to reduce pollution in the valleys where most of us live. Ethanol is not only here, it's here to stay and should stay.

It just sucks that coal is used in factories to produce it.

[Fledermaus]

5. The new energy bill caps corn ethanol production at about 15 billion gallons

[GliderGuider]

6. How about these words?

"The production of corn ethanol for use as a motor fuel is a crime against humanity."

[Fledermaus]

7. The ghost of Malthus

A more forgivable mistake by Malthus involves his failure to anticipate the growth of technology. The advancements made in agricultural science allowed farmers to make greater use of their lands. The development of effective contraception also made "restraint" a non-issue in terms of checking population growth. Because of these scientific breakthroughs the theories of Malthus have had little relevance in regards to Western society. Many underdeveloped nations, however, never adopted improved farming techniques or new methods of contraception. The results of this failure have mirrored Malthusian predictions to a startling degree. Overpopulation, famine, pestilence and war continue to ravage the third world. These events constitute an unhappy vindication of many of Malthusian doctrine.

http://www.victorianweb.org/economics/malthus.html