[StJacques]

First of all; on sugar cane -- get rid of it if it cannot stand on its own. If I had realized you were suggesting burning the Louisiana sugar cane fields to get rid of it I might not have demurred after all.

On the Sugar Subsidy, there is clearly an entire complex of interests brought together to support and maintain it. But that truth does not change the fact that a federally financed ethanol industrial development plan that is implemented simultaneously alongside subsidized sugar and high fructose corn syrup will be far more expensive than it should be and far less successful than it could be.

There has been so little discussion about what the Sugar Subsidy costs this country. Do you know that major candy manufacturers like Brach's are moving their production facilities to Canada simply for the price of sugar? The labor in Canada is actually more expensive than in Memphis, but the price of sugar is just too high here.

[NicknamedBob]

One of the advantages of cellulosic alcohol production, particularly of butanol, is that it does not depend on a subsidized sugar raw material.

Converting cornstalks and other biowaste into butanol, (and hydrogen), would permit a slow growth into the fuel industry, gradually reducing our dependence on foreign suppliers and boosting our agricultural production.

[SAJ]

Good points all. Yes, having traded in sugar (all types) for more than 3 decades, I like to think I'm quite aware of all the downsides to the sugar subsidy.

You're dead-bang on about the subsidies making ethanol much more expensive than it needs to be, but the fact that the gov't are proceeding regardless with this huge programme is yet another indication of how far they're removed from economic reality. That said, it makes no difference (except cost) to the factual situation; ethanol is and always will be a crappy motor fuel.

Oh, and you missed out one of the downsides. By artificially making sugar expensive, we all get the ''benefits'' of having HFCS dumped into some 70%+ of processed food products. Good for ADM, of course, but horrible for everyone else.

I'm all for getting rid of domestic cane growing, entirely. Now, all we have to do (haha) is outbid the sugar lobby for the 'Critters.