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Showing posts with the label hydrocarbon subsidies

Another Shot at Ethanol

Food and Fuel Should Not be in Competition OK, you know where I stand. Corn is not a very good feedstock for making ethanol. There is still a net negative energy exchange in manufacturing ethanol from Corn. Sugar cane and sugar beets are a lot better and they have a net positive energy balance. Look it up . And, weirdly, the whole grow-convert-use corn ethanol cycle is as bad for the environment as gasoline use. But the worst thing in the corn/ethanol equation is that corn is an important food . It's in hundreds of things we eat. Whole food chains are dependent on corn. The meat industry, including chickens, requires a lot of corn. Not only beef cattle, but dairy cows need corn. Corn being diverted to our new passion for ethanol (said passion involving a federal subsidy) is already raising food costs all over. Check out this rant . And it's worse than just higher prices in our supermarkets. It will likely mean starvation for those on the low end of the money pole. By our corn-c