Biofuel venture hasn’t paid off for Snohomish County (Washington state)

HeraldNet ^ | June 28, 2010 | Noah Haglund

[epithermal]

A plan to lessen Snohomish County’s dependence on fossil fuels while helping local farmers has fallen well short of expectations.

Supporters urge patience. In time, they say, an improved economy will boost demand for locally grown oilseed crops, such as canola, which can be turned into biodiesel. Eventually, they maintain, a $1.2 million investment in a grain dryer and seed crusher at the county’s Cathcart facility south of Snohomish will prove worthwhile.

..snip..

Efforts to wean government vehicle fleets off fossil fuels have lagged.

Snohomish County now runs about two-thirds of its diesel fleet on a blend of 20 percent biodiesel. The county had hoped to have all its diesel-powered vehicles using biofuels by now, Thomsen said. Even missing the goal, the county’s performance still is better than the state’s.

A 2006 law required all the state’s ferries and diesel-powered cars and trucks to use a 20 percent biodiesel mixture by last year.

By the end of 2009, less than 2 percent of the state’s ferries and land vehicles were using biodiesel, said Steve Valandra, a spokesman for the state’s General Administration. Biodiesel’s higher cost and tendency to gel in cold weather were the main reasons for not reaching the target, Valandra said.

[Wuli]

“I would be interested to hear your theory as to how corn received a $2.00 per bushel subsidy in 2008. (By the way,July, 2008, corn futures peaked at a little over $7.50 per bushel in June of that year. July, 2010, futures lasted traded on the CME at $3.274, for what it’s worth.)”

Yes, LOTS of factors, not just “ethanol” make up the changes in demand and price (like the world demand recession in agricultural commodities since 2008). The fact is that, whatever today’s price of corn is, minus the demand and alteration of corn markets from subsidized and legally mandated ethanol, that price would be less.