More idiocy. It costs more to make this ethanol, uses up soil resources, and produces a diluted fuel which causes harm to engines. And then they try to say that this is good for the environment!
Dumb, dumb, dumb.
However, it is likely the diversion of feed crops will cause an increase in the price of livestock (and meat).
Sorghum (Sorghum bicolor), also known as milo, has a variety of uses including food for human consumption, feed grain for livestock and industrial applications such as ethanol production. The area planted to sorghum worldwide has increased by 66 percent over the past 50 years, while yield has increased by 244 percent. Around half of the sorghum produced is fed to livestock, and half is consumed by humans and used in other applications.Sorghum is grown in 14 states.
Historically, Kansas and Texas have been the top two sorghum-producing states. In 2011 the two states retained their ranking as leading producers, harvesting 78 percent of the U.S. sorghum crop. Kansas produced 110 million bushels valued at $671 million, while Texas produced 56 million bushels valued at $331 million. Other states producing large quantities of grain sorghum include Oklahoma, Colorado, South Dakota, Louisiana and Nebraska.
http://www.agmrc.org/commodities__products/grains__oilseeds/sorghum/sorghum_profile.cfm
Ethanol. doesn’t work.
Once I thought that Ethanol was a good idea, now though? It only makes sense when there are bumper crops and it’s either convert to ethanol or leave the grain to rot or be eaten by rodents.
Burning our food just doesn’t seem to make sense anymore especially with all of the new petroleum coming on-line through new production techniques.
I believe there is a moral component to the act of selfishly burning our food for fuel.
My wife is a gardener and often grows cherry tomatoes.
The plants usually produce a surprising (at least to me) abundance of fruit for their size and space and many varieties are incredibly sweet.
I’ve often wondered if those couldn’t be an alternative source of sugar for ethanol production compared to corn or perhaps as an alternative to sugar beets. Don’t know enough about the soil requirements, but it seems cherry tomatoes are a lot less demanding and produce for a longer period than corn.
I imagine harvesting is not as easy to automate though.
The cattle industry is no friend of the Marxists in Washington nor to the animal rights nuts so this would be right up the enemy within’s alley.
If they can make meat too expensive they will have succeeded in nudging us in the direction the FWOTUS (First Wookie of the USA) wants us to follow.
We have all the energy we need right here in the USA and we do not need to be burning our fuel. To unleash this USA energy would simply require ejecting all the Marxists in the WH and more importantly congress.
Why not something useless that grows aggressively with minimal or no care? Kudzu comes to mind, or goldenrod or endless other weeds suited to their particular niches?
Nixon’s legacy, the EPA, a nation destroyer. Who’da thunk it?