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Antibiotics pose concern for ethanol producers

There are a lot of reasons why corn-based ethanol may not be best biofuel available to ween ourselves off of petroleum, most of which have been well covered on this site. Today, we came across one that we were previously unaware of, and, interestingly enough, it has to do with bacteria and antibiotics. Ethanol is created by the fermentation of sugars present in a given feedstock, usually corn here in the United States. Yeast must be kept healthy enough to munch on these sugars if a good batch of alcohol is going to be produced, and ethanol ... Read more →

U.S. ethanol production down by 21 percent Xavier Navarro

Bad news for ethanol lovers. One of the most important ethanol producers in the U.S., ADM, has announced that U.S. production of ethanol was down by 21 percent, from some 12.9 million gallons in ...

Is ethanol to blame for 1,100 job cuts at Pilgrim's Pride? Jeremy Korzeniewski

We've been covering the ongoing debate on whether or not ethanol is to blame for the increase in corn and feedstock prices, and opinions on both sides seem to be pretty strong. According to Pilgrim's ...

Bush thinks ethanol is increasing price of corn Domenick Yoney

Although some have argued, even recently, that the drive to convert large amounts of farming acreage to ethanol production has had no effect on the prices people pay for food, that is not the memo our ...

Forum Fodder: Definitive proof that ethanol is not creating a food corn shortage? Jeremy Korzeniewski

GM Inside News forum member HoosierRon has posted what he feels is "definitive proof that ethanol is not creating a food corn shortage." He goes on to give real raw data to support his claims. His ...

Richard Branson: ethanol would be cheaper than gas if America stopped taxing sugar imports 1 year ago on Autoblog Green

Billionaire Sir Richard Branson made headlines recently when he knocked the way Americans produce ethanol. In a recent interview with Charlie Rose, Branson fleshed out his ideas on ways America can improve the way it produces the alcohol fuel. Thirty minutes in, he says sugar produces seven times ...

Is corn tricking us into making ethanol? 1 year ago on Autoblog Green

We (humans) tend to see ourselves as having dominion over nature. We take and destroy when we cut down trees and harvest crops. But here's a question: What if, like with bees, plants are actually using us and they are getting more out of the farming relationship than we do? Take ethanol production ...

Gulf of Mexico "dead zone" expanding, possibly due to corn bubble 1 year ago on Autoblog Green

American farmers use a lot of fertilizer on their crops and much of that fertilizer ends up running off the fields before it's absorbed by the plants. When that happens it ends up in streams and rivers. In the central part of the United States where a lot American agriculture happens, most of those ...

Mexico wants to limit corn ethanol with "Food comes first" law 2 years ago on Autoblog Green

One more position in the food vs. biofuel debate, this one clearly slated towards food. México is about to pass an amendment to the "Ley de Bioenergéticos" (Bioenergy sources law) that clearly states that "Corn will only be used for making ethanol as long as there is a national ...

Greenspan on ethanol: it'll play a limited role 2 years ago on Autoblog Green

Alan Greenspan is getting a lot of press because of his opinions on Bush. Last year, when Alan Greenspan was still fed chair, he said a few things about ethanol in testimony. He says corn ethanol will play "only a limited role." Greenspan contends corn ethanol's "ability to displace gasoline is ...

Crop rotation - corn to alfalfa and back, plus its effect on ethanol 2 years ago on Autoblog Green

There is a danger in planting corn over and over again in the same field. If the crops are never rotated, the soil quality suffers immensely, which is why farmers usually rotate their crops from year to year. However, many are expecting that the high prices that corn has been generating, which may ...

Esquire: The case for corn 2 years ago on Autoblog Green

Chuck Klosterman watched the "Live Green" Superbowl ad. Then he bought a flex fuel car. In this article from Esquire, he made an incredible argument for ethanol of the like I have never seen before. I think it reflects a lot of people that support ethanol. First, there is nothing technical in this ...

Oh boy... now ethanol is blamed for the high price of coffee! 2 years ago on Autoblog Green

So, farmers are able to sell corn for higher prices because ethanol fuel is becoming more popular here in the United States, right? Whether of not that means that food products such as tortilla's, beer, tequila and milk are directly related to ethanol is often debated. Obviously, if you are a ...

Toyota to start offering flex-fuel models in Brazil 2 years ago on Autoblog Green

I'll admit that I was mildly surprised to read that Toyota was going to start offering flexible fuel vehicles for sale in Brazil soon. Well, let me clarify that: I was surprised to hear the Toyota was not already offering flexible fuel vehicles for sale in Brazil. There, that's better. As the ...

Getting more ethanol from less corn 2 years ago on Autoblog Green

I'm pretty sure that by now most readers of this site can explain the difference between ethanol made from grains like corn and cellulosic ethanol. But, here is a nice article from What's Next Network that explains some of the differences and what it takes to get more ethanol from corn using a ...

Friday Humor: I knew that ethanol was causing rising tortilla prices, but this is ridiculous 2 years ago on Autoblog Green

I am sure that by this time we have all heard about how the use of corn for fuel use has caused the prices for food products like tortillas to go up. But, did you know that record high tortilla prices have recently been set... we're talking well over a thousand dollars per tortilla! Not only that, ...

Robert Kennedy Jr. promotes cellulosic ethanol instead of corn ethanol 2 years ago on Autoblog Green

Robert Kennedy Jr. recently spoke at a press conference in the Bloomington, Illinios area, and gave his opinions on ethanol production. Kennedy suggests, quite correctly, that it takes too much corn from the food arena to create ethanol fuel from that particular crop, and instead believes that ...

Editorial: Analyzing President Bush's short speech on electric cars and cellulosic ethanol 2 years ago on Autoblog Green

An earlier post here on ABG brought attention to the fact that President Bush viewed the Phoenix Motorcars SUT and a plug-in hybrid version of the Toyota Prius at request of the White House. We discussed the vehicles and why they were there, which was in an effort to promote alternative fuels and ...

New "corncob sponge" may be a breakthrough in methane, natural gas storage 2 years ago on Autoblog Green

The merits of ethanol can be debated all day, with opposing viewpoints ranging from "at least it's better than dino-juice" to "it's barely better than hydrogen" to "it's our only viable option". While the truth probably lies somewhere in between the extremes, most agree that corn is not the best ...

Animal fat biodiesel to top half billion gallons by 2012? 2 years ago on Autoblog Green

Supply and demand is set to see biofuel feedstock prices climb dramatically if oil prices top the records seen in 2006. At $80 a barrel, the ethanol could bid $5 a bushel for corn, diverting the crops production away from food consumption to powering our vehicles. The same holds true for biodiesel ...

Cargill profit jumps 34 percent on back of biofuels surge 2 years ago on Autoblog Green

Cargill Inc., the largest agricultural company in the U.S. and a major player internationally, has announced a massive jump in their second-quarter profits of 34 percent on the back of gains in shipping, trading and processing grains and oilseeds. Net income in the three months to November 30 was ...

University of Detroit Mercy and Wayne State University developing "pethanol" 2 years ago on Autoblog Green

Using corn to create ethanol is becoming rather widespread these days, as farmers and certain political entities have been pushing it as a fuel alternative for the last several years. Almost all of us have used ethanol in our cars, whether we wanted to or not, as it has been used in a blend with ...

U.S. sugar tariffs may prove saving grace to South American corn growers 3 years ago on Autoblog Green

As Autoblog Green has previously reported, U.S. tariffs on sugar has effectively barred Brazil and other nations with their less expensive and more efficient sugar-based ethanol from competing in the U.S., giving American corn and soy growers the lion's share of the market. But according to the ...

Ethanol takes a hit in studies 3 years ago on Autoblog Green

A number of scientists at research universities around the U.S. are coming out of the woodwork to rain on the Big 3's parade with doubts about the environmental benefits of ethanol. According to a report by the Associated Press, scientists are also debunking the theory that ethanol could provide a ...

Click and Clack tackle cost effectiveness of ethanol 3 years ago on Autoblog Green

Tom and Ray Magliozzi, who host of the popular NPR program Car Talk as "Click and Clack", address the controversial issue of ethanol efficacy. According to a listener's letter,131,000 British thermal units (BTU) are needed to produce a gallon of ethanol. However, that gallon only produces 77,000 BTU ...

Ethanol and why it's wrong 3 years ago on Autoblog Green

Biologist David E. Pitts wants farmers, fuel producers, and the government to stop the development of ethanol or at least stop devoting so many resources to the alternative fuel. Why? More oil and diesel will be consumed to farm corn fields set aside for ethanol. He calculates it takes seven ...

Ethanol eating up 20 percent of American corn 3 years ago on Autoblog Green

Next year, twenty percent of the corn grown in the United States will be turned into ethanol, according to this article from Reuters. The increase in ethanol production (ethanol will take 2.15 billion bushels of this year's corn crop as opposed to 1.6 billion bushels from last year) will also drive ...

Oil exec tapped to run alternative fuel company 3 years ago on Autoblog Green

Grist Magazine reports a former oil executive was picked as CEO for Archer Daniels Midland. ADM, a company with quite the turbulent history, is a food processing firm which has made billions over the years producing things like high-fructose corn syrup. The choice of Patricia Woertz, former ...

Stock analysts say we could be in an "ethanol bubble" 3 years ago on Autoblog Green

Well, that didn’t take too long. Just when the President starts to promote ethanol as a way to curb America’s addiction to oil, industry analysts are already talking about being in an “ethanol bubble”, or so says Abnormal Returns and some of the analysts quoted there. One ...

Umm...Where Are We Going to Grow it All? 3 years ago on Autoblog Green

Politicians trying to draw attention away from our dependency on foreign oil and car makers trying to draw attention away from their gas-guzzling products have one thing in common: they love to bandy about statistics showing how wonderful E85 can be, including how clean it is and how fuel efficient ...


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