Oh, I have no problem with using farmland to produce either methanol or ethanol. If that is the surest method of de-funding the Middle East I’m all for it.
I’m just pointing out that trying to create a distinction between crops that are “foodstuffs” and crops that aren’t is disingenuous. It all has to be grown on some amount of land by farmers that otherwise would be growing something else. Besides, ethanol can be produced from non-food crops just as surely as it can be produced from corn; weather the particular crop used to produce biofuel is edible or not has no real meaning.
“Besides, ethanol can be produced from non-food crops just as surely as it can be produced from corn”
I don’t have the info handy but I know I read that ethanol requires plants high in starch or sugars in order to be efficiently produced. Not methanol.
Would seaweed and kelp work? Water lilies work great to suck up sewage and grow like crazy in such an environment. Can we dredge those up?