ethanol

On the challenge of cellulosic ethanol

"There is only one problem: the United States is not producing any second-generation non-corn ethanol in significant quantities at the moment. So a whole new industry will have to be brought into existence within less than four years and become one of the largest industries in the United States within the next 10 years."

-- Reuters columnist John Kemp, "Obama's Biofuel Challenge"

Ford drops hydrogen while GM remains confused about ethanol

The car companies have come back to D.C. begging for money. But this time they have put on the table serious restructuring plans. At first glance, Ford’s plan [PDF] appears to me sounder than GM’s plan [PDF]. I’m interested in your opinions. Assuming we believe they will do what they say, the reports reveal a […]

The food price blame game

Tactic No. 1: Create a straw man. Nobody in their right mind can claim that corn ethanol has no impact on corn prices, or that corn prices have no impact on food prices. You can only debate the extent of the corn’s impact. Here’s a conclusion from a study released this year [PDF] that supports […]

Monsanto purchased a Brazilian sugarcane ethanol company for $290 million

At a time when many people were questioning causes of the recent food crisis, many more were investigating how our food systems can move forward to sustainably feed the increasing world population. Recently, the U.N. Task Force on Trade, Environment and Development released a report touting the noteworthy yields and economic benefits of organic agriculture […]

When in doubt, propagandize

The ethanol industry is in trouble because the market is rejecting its products, which turn out to have been wildly over-hyped. So it’s taking a cue from the coal industry and improving its product launching a massive advertising campaign. Fresh from my inbox: WASHINGTON — On Tuesday, November 11th, leading ethanol producers from around the […]

Ethanol industry craters; investors take a bath; world probably fails to learn lesson

VeraSun, one of nation’s largest ethanol producers, mulls bankruptcy. Ethanex Energy files. Alternative Energy Sources shuts down. E3 Biofuels files. A trend? Seems so: It was an American dream that has failed to become a reality. For much of the last decade, enthusiasts from President George W. Bush down have touted corn-based ethanol as something […]

Big Ethanol descends on Africa for land, water, and sympathetic governments

A few weeks ago I was in Mozambique for a conference that brought together NGOs, small-scale farmers, agricultural associations, and local media to discuss the impact of biofuel production in southern Africa. While the United States and other Western countries mandate ethanol quotas to supposedly reduce their consumption of fossil fuels, many farmers in Africa […]

Democrat gets black mark from environmental lobby for backing of corn-based ethanol

This Guardian story was written by reporter Ed Pilkington. Grist is a member of the Guardian’s Environment Network. —– BROWNSVILLE, Neb. — Barack Obama has enjoyed near-universal backing from American environmentalists, with the Sierra Club, the country’s largest grass-roots environmental group, and Friends of the Earth both endorsing the Democratic nominee for president. But there […]

Khosla’s letter to Science backfires

Vinod Khosla has a letter in the Oct. 17 issue of Science ($ub. req’d) critiquing the Searchinger et al study: “U.S. croplands for biofuels increases greenhouse gases through emissions from land-use change.” Question: Why would the editors at Science publish a letter from someone who is not a biologist or a peer of the researchers […]