I'm gonna say this for about the fifty-fith time. The net result of biofuel will be an INCREASE in overall food supply, and a decrease in food prices. All the "gloom and doom" idiots, like the author of this piece, fail to mention that only a part (roughly about 1/3) of biofuel production is converted into fuel (ethanol for corn, biodiesel for soybeans). For corn, the part removed is the carbohydrate fraction. For soybeans, the part removed is the oil fraction. In both cases, the leftover material IS FOOD, and will come into the food chain.
It may indeed be the case that we can't grow enough corn and soybeans to replace oil, but a net increase in food prices due to "burning food" will NOT take place.
It is a lot more fun running around yelling “We are all gonna die!!!” though. :)
Now, I’m not trying to argue, just to understand, but how would you respond to those who say that since many farmers are switching to growing corn, there are fewer farmers growing other things—so by the law of supply and demand, those other things will be more scarce and cost more?
Thanks for helping me understand this debate.
Your statement doesn't pass the smell test.
Prior to our making ethanol out of corn the corn went for food production, either our own or for animals. The stalk still goes into animal feed the same as before, so no net change.
An ear of corn is apx. 77 g, 20 g is carbs, 3 g is protein and 1 g is fat. So you are right that carbs are almost 1/3 of the corn but the remaining valuable part is only 5% or so. There is no way even if we doubled or tripled our corn production that that remaining 5% can make up the lost production. We would need to increase the cultivated area by 5 times to break even. It isn't going to happen. Food and gasoline prices are going to go up.
This ethanol program has to be the stupidest program that the government has ever done and that is saying a lot. It takes more than a gallon of diesel to make a gallon of ethanol.
This type of idiocy on the part of our elected officials is treasonous. We have to increase our importation of oil (causing the price to rise) and we have to pay more for food because there is less of it.
Thanks, I don’t know why I even click on these “we’re all gonna die” threads.
Good to see such a concise response to a bunch of morons.
Keep it up, there are a lot of us who appreciate the truth.