False Promises

You know that an implosion in the ethanol mania is coming soon when even the Boston Globe comes out strongly against the false promises of ethanol.

Ethanol consumes almost a quarter of US corn production. The energy self-sufficiency that all the candidates seek should not come at the expense of the environment or the food supply.

Increased ethanol production isn't the only reason for the spike in food costs, but it's more controllable than drought in Australia, higher fertilizer prices, or increased meat consumption by the Chinese. Unlike those other cost-drivers, ethanol production is encouraged by federal subsidies.

And it's not as though ethanol improves the environment. When emissions inherent in the production process are included, ethanol consumption generates more carbon dioxide per gallon than gasoline, according to a recent report in Science magazine. Conversion of other cultivated biomass, such as sugarcane or soy, presents the same problem. The only biofuel that produces a net benefit is agricultural waste, an uncertain source. The best way for American motorists to use less gasoline is to drive fewer miles in lighter vehicles, rather than rely on the false promise of biofuels.

Do read it all, it pretty thoroughly savages the entire ethanol scam. Billions of dollars in US taxpayer money is going into biofuel subsidies at the same time that rising demand for corn is driving food prices into the stratosphere. I suspect that we are one bad growing season away from a real disaster.

Side note: It is particularly nice to read the Globe acknowledge that ethanol actually produces more carbon emissions than gasoline. It's about time the major media started paying a little attention to that fact.