Pro-ethanol folks respond to Economist's ethanol attack
Yesterday, I wrote about an article in the Economist that equated the amount of maize it takes to make a gallon of ethanol with a year's worth of food. Earlier today, we saw the latest bit of bad news from an ethanol producer (the suspension of construction of a large ethanol plant in Imperial Valley). Still, ethanol does have its defenders, and one of them - from Poet Energy - contacted AutoblogGreen to point us to a brand new study by Informa Economics that finds that overall food prices have a "weak correlation" with the price of corn. In other words, don't blame E85 for the increased cost of your dinner.Actually, the study is long-term and looked at 20 years of data. The results are what's new. Reuters says that the study "shows that corn prices have minimal impact on the U.S. Consumer Price Index for food, which has been on the rise." Reuters reporter Christine Stebbins spoke with Bruce Scherr, Informa's chief executive, who said, "We're not saying that corn prices are cheap, that ethanol hasn't helped underpin the growth in the corn economy. What we are saying is to blame corn and corn-based ethanol for all of the inflation associated with food and food prices ... is to grossly under-consider all the other forces at work." In other words, don't blame E85 for all of the increased cost of your dinner.
Renewable Fuels Foundation funded the Informa study. You can read Informa's announcement or download the complete study (both in PDF).
[Source: Domestic Fuel, Reuters via Nathan S.]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
GameOver 10:32PM (8/07/2008)
Indeed. Corn ethanol is a great alternative to oil and next gen ethanol is even better. The study reflects the reality of the situation and that is that you cannot scape goat ethanol. Oil has done the damage and ethanol is what is repairing it!
http://ccdeinbarrie.cjb.net
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stevejust 3:43PM (12/11/2007)
wait... is someone actually saying that oh, I don't know, maybe $100 a barrel crude oil prices might impact food cost more than ethanol usage for fuel?
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tankd0g 3:58PM (12/11/2007)
I blame McDonald's for giving our super value meals to China.
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TX CHL Instructor 4:41PM (12/11/2007)
Whether or not a tank full of e85 is the equivalent of a year's worth of food is beside the point.
Ethanol is at best a mediocre fuel, and corn is a lousy feedstock.
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middleoroad 8:02AM (12/12/2007)
Has anyone done a study on the effect of high fructose corn syrup on the price of corn?This sweetener has little or no nutritional value and is found in hundreds of products but most of it is probably used in soda.High diesel prices obviously is the leading factor in higher food prices overall.Cellulosic ethanol is already being produced by POET and others and will run the corn based producers out of the market soon.Corn based ethanol may be a neccesary evil first step in the war against big oil.If no rich guys were getting richer off this,we would not have been able to start the most important fight of our generation.
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Rocketboy 10:22AM (12/12/2007)
Wow, thanks Ethanol guys. I guess everything I understood about markets was totally wrong. Free corn for everyone!
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logan 9:57AM (12/13/2007)
i agree with middleoroad. it's a good direction to go. cellulosic ethanol should convert many nonbelievers of the sustainability of the new application of ethanol.
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