3 out of 4 Americans say: let's go for renewable fuels
According to a recent survey made by Renewable Fuels Now, 74 percent of Americans say that the US should increase domestic production of renewable fuels, including ethanol. The poll also mentions that Americans support the idea of the Federal Government helping develop the biofuel industry (87 percent) and increasing biofuel blends at the pumps (77 percent).
The article also mentions that Americans don't believe in the "tortilla effect" (that corn ethanol affects food prices) and more people mention other root factors for the price increase, for example higher oil prices (46 percent) and increased global demand (15 percent), than those who believe ethanol is guilty (7 percent).
The survey was released by Renewable Fuels Now, a coalition of associations and companies that includes the National Corn Growers Association. It was conducted in late October 2007 and surveyed 1,000 adults in the US.
Nevertheless, Ron Plain, a professor of agricultural economics at the University of Missouri, states that even if all the agricultural output in the US were used to produce biofuels, the country would still need 50 million gallons of gasoline to keep cars running. He also said "Ethanol can reduce the use of gasoline but it isn't going to replace it [...] We use too much gasoline to replace it with ethanol".
Related:
[Source: Cattle network via Ethanol Review]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Karkus 4:31PM (11/06/2007)
That look like a biased study if I ever saw one.
If you ask the questions the "right" way, you'll probably get results that you want.
By the way, the NCGA's mission is " To create and increase opportunities for corn growers."
Yet one of they objective is "Protecting Our Environment" -hmmm, those don't exactly go together. Corn uses a ton of fertilizer and water.
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gsolman6 9:02AM (11/07/2007)
Yes it probably was a biased questionnaire and that combined with American's relative ignorance of the whole process and its effects will yield the results the NCGA wanted to see. What is so shameless are the NCGAs and ADMs of the world looking for handouts from the government so they can justify their flawed, environmentally unsustainable business models.
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