America’s Failed Domestic Ethanol Policy

[Matt Collins]

http://www.openmarket.org/2010/06/16/americas-failed-domestic-ethanol-policy/

[HOLLYWOOD]

I like to think positive on the paradigm of fascism in America, so here's my headliner...


America's Successful Domestic Ethanol Policy Saves Jobs, Buys Campaign Donations & Votes :rolleyes:

[Matt Collins]

We have Iowa to thank for this.

[Zippyjuan]

More specifically we have Archer Daniels Midland to thank. It is no big secret that ethanol from corn is a failure- yet last year they increased the amounts of the heavily subsidized product required to be produced.

[jkr]

HemP!

[Zippyjuan]

That isn't that great either though better than corn.
http://biodieselmagazine.com/article.jsp?article_id=1434

Arthur Hanks, executive director of the Canadian Hemp Trade Alliance, agrees that there are too many factors working against the use of hemp as a biodiesel feedstock. “People talk about it, but there’s not really anything happening with that right now,” he tells Biodiesel Magazine.

Price is the big issue, Hanks says, echoing Bobbee’s sentiments. The human nutritional market pays well for hemp seed. Currently, conventionally grown hemp seed brings in about 45 Canadian cents a pound, he says. Certified organic seed garners 85 Canadian cents a pound, or nearly CAN$40 a bushel.

Then there’s the hurdle of limited supply. Although healthy demand has increased hemp production numbers in Canada, there’s just not enough quantity to go around. In 2005, 24,000 acres of hemp were planted in Canada, more than doubling to 50,000 acres in 2006. “That particularly, is very much an issue of economies of scale,” Hanks says. “We are still very much a specialty crop.”

Finally, there’s the relatively low oil productivity of hemp. Hemp seed does have a relatively high oil content of about 33 percent, compared with canola at about 40 percent. However, it has a low seed per-acre yield. Typically, an acre of hemp yields about 700 pounds of seed, although some farmers have enjoyed production numbers as high as 1,200 pounds an acre in good years, Hanks says. Canola growers, on the other hand, can reap a crop of anywhere from 1,500 to 2,600 pounds an acre.

[Dr.3D]

HemP!

At least that wouldn't make the price of meat and eggs go up like using corn does.

[Matt Collins]

More specifically we have Archer Daniels Midland to thank. It is no big secret that ethanol from corn is a failure- yet last year they increased the amounts of the heavily subsidized product required to be produced.
You should look up the tie between Elieen Gonzalez and ADM. It's quite disturbing. :(

[Zippyjuan]

At least that wouldn't make the price of meat and eggs go up like using corn does.

If you want to grow energy for biofuels you need land. The land available for agricuiture is mostly being used already so if you are going to grow hemp or canola or whatever you will be taking acreage out of food production to grow it. That will reduce food supplies and raise prices. No- probably not as much as the corn fiasco.

[dean.engelhardt]

If you want to grow energy for biofuels you need land. The land available for agricuiture is mostly being used already so if you are going to grow hemp or canola or whatever you will be taking acreage out of food production to grow it. That will reduce food supplies and raise prices. No- probably not as much as the corn fiasco.

I think that's a decision to be made by individual farmers. I'm not a farmer, so personally increases in food prices hurts me. But I'm sure the farmers would love to see the yield of their land go up. Many farmers are in financal trouble these days.

Removing government farming subsidies and restrictions will be a boom to the farmer. It should help the overall economy if it can lower oil import in a meaningful way. There probably will be increase of food prices, but could be off-set by energy gains.

A few years back the government paid farmers to to leave a portion of their land unplanted. Is this still happening?

[ninepointfive]

there are a couple gas stations in my area which buy gas with no ethanol in premium. I'm making sure I visit them, and go out of my way to purchase that gas.

[KCIndy]

One of the biggest problems with corn-based ethanol is that it's something like 17 - 20% LESS efficient than gasoline. MPG will DROP using corn-based ethanol. It's not getting us anywhere. Sadly, the early push to use corn was based on lobbying efforts from the big corn producers (ADM, anyone?)

Brazil was able to achieve better success by using sugar cane to create their ethanol. Advantage: sugar cane has an energy yield seven times greater than that of corn.

The Wikipedia entry on this is a pretty interesting read:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethanol_fuel_in_Brazil


including this:

Brazil's sugar cane-based industry is more efficient than the U.S. corn-based industry. Sugar cane ethanol has an energy balance seven times greater than ethanol produced from corn.[3] Brazilian distillers are able to produce ethanol for 22 cents per liter, compared with the 30 cents per liter for corn-based ethanol.[103] U.S. corn-derived ethanol costs 30% more because the corn starch must first be converted to sugar before being distilled into alcohol.[72] Despite this cost differential in production, the U.S. does not import more Brazilian ethanol because of U.S. trade barriers corresponding to a tariff of 54-cent per gallon, first imposed in 1980, but kept to offset the 45-cent per gallon blender's federal tax credit that is applied to ethanol no matter its country of origin.[5][83][84][85]