Tracing the full life-cycle of production of several biofuels shows that corn-based ethanol provides marginal help to reducing dependence on foreign oil and reduction of greenhouse gases (GHG). Counting all inputs including the petroleum and GHG costs of fertilizer, cultivation, and conversion to ethanol, corn-based ethanol yielded only 25% more energy than put in. Soy-based biodiesel yielded 93% more. Other sources are still in the research stage.
Either way, the study by Univ. of Minnesota ecologists, biologists and economists says that there is not enough farmland in the U.S. to produce the crops needed to replace petroleum. Also, directing large quantities of corn or soybeans now used for human and cattle feed would drive up the cost of food for humans. U of M: U News Service: News Release: U of M researchers identify energy gains and environmental impacts of corn ethanol and soybean biodiesel and propose alternatives for the next generation of biofuels
The original article abstract: Environmental, economic, and energetic costs and benefits of biodiesel and ethanol biofuels -- Hill et al., 10.1073/pnas.0604600103 -- Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (free). The full article itself in PDF format is available to PNAS subscribers or for a one-time fee at: PNAS -- Sign In Page.
Federal promotion of E-85 may be very good for the large agribusinesses that produce the bulk of the corn and soybeans in the America, which are already the beneficiaries of complex and controversial federal subsidies and price supports (See Washington Post, "Growers Reap Benefits Even in Good Years", July 3, 2006) and crop insurance subsidies that the GAO calculates at $2.5 billion each year, including an estimated $117 million in fraud, waste and abuse. "GAO - Crop Insurance: More Needs To Be Done to Reduce Program's Vulnerability to Fraud, Waste, and Abuse GAO-06-878T June 15, 2006".
Policy makers should take with a grain of salt those promoting ethanol and E-85 as if they were a solution to our energy and climate crisis. Even E-85 hybrids are subject to the supply/demand problem of corn ethanol (See Hybrid Cars - What's Next for Hybrids? E85 Hybrids.)
Automakers opting for E-85 programs may be forming an alliance with a limited future if consumers realize that an "Organization of Corn Ethanol Producers" (OCEP) has replaced the "Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries" (OPEC) as the puppet master of America's auto fleet.
As Tom Whipple wrote in May: "A food vs. fuel debate has already broken out between Cargill and Archer, Daniel, Midlands (ADM), the two giants of the US agribusiness. While addressing a group of business writers, the CEO of Cargill said he saw the production of food as the most important task of agriculture. He pointed out that if the entire US corn crop were used for fuel, it would only replace 20 percent of US gasoline consumption.
The next day, the chairman of ADM retorted that the world has plenty of capacity to grow food. He maintains "there is no consumption vs. combustion debate" and that hunger and malnutrition around the world come from "a lack of infrastructure and a lack of capital." ADM is producing about 1 billon gallons of ethanol a year and plans to increase this to 1.5 billion.
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If current trends continue much longer —crop destroying droughts, hurricanes, increasing energy prices, and the construction of ethanol plants— it is obvious that food is going to become more expensive, probably much more expensive. * * * There are acceptable alternatives to putting corn into your gas tank such as slowing down, staying home, taking a bus, or joining a car pool. There are no substitutes for eating." Falls Church News-Press -- "Peak Oil Crisis" (May 2006). (Thanks to: EnergyBulletin.net)
Well said, Tom.
Posted by dougsimpson at July 12, 2006 05:11 PM