I just spent a nice night outdoors drinking some frozen margaritas at my favorite solar-powered NYC watering hole, Habana Outpost. Which made a headline that I ran across today doubly disturbing:
I was fully prepared to make some personal sacrifices for our embattled planet's health (as you know, we're not all that pumped about the Bush administration's hype of ethanol), but this hit a little too close for comfort. I guess it's good that I'm a bourbon drinker first and foremost. —John Mahoney
I'm not sure I really buy this. I'm living in Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico (heart of the agave growing region) and all I've heard for the last few years is that there is a glut of agave. This is probably part of a boom and bust cycle that hits agave. Agave takes a long time to mature, so these cycles generally extend over a long period of time. I think a few years ago there was a shortage, so a lot of farmers started planting agave. Now that there is a glut, they are changing to corn. If there is another shortage, they will switch back to agave. Also, don't worry about Jose Cuervo, Suaza or any of the big tequila makers. They have been buying up agave fields during the glut and hope to control most of their own supply, thus making a glut or shortage less important for them.
Posted by: Noah | May 31, 2007 at 06:35 PM
i like corn
Posted by: special | June 04, 2007 at 11:19 AM
Beer prices have already risen in Germany due to fears of ethanol promotion.
Posted by: jec666 | June 04, 2007 at 04:25 PM
Is it just an urban legend, or haven't we been paying mid-western farmers NOT to plant corn for years because we have far more production capacity than consumption, and we need to keep the price higher? Let's put the farmers back to work.
Also, cellulose crops like switch grass (and HEMP!!) can grow on land that is absolutely useless for any other crop, and do not require fertilizers or pesticides like corn does.
I think there's a lot more going on here. We've got a PR battle royal between the various agricultural lobby groups. Wouldn't it be great if there were a publication that could filter out the truth from the spin? Hmmm
Posted by: Larry | June 08, 2007 at 03:33 PM
Larry: You just hit the center of the matter. There is a lot of ignorance around the subject and a lot of interests in conflict too.
Posted by: Efrain | June 08, 2007 at 06:56 PM
This article makes it look like ethanol is the only solution for vehicles. There are lots of alternative fuels/technologies out there that are being developed. Electricty powered vechicles like the Tesla and the Volt from GM. Those can be charged by solar, wind, and hydrogen powered plants. There's development in fuel cells. Also they have bio-diesel. And so what if prices go up? That means we won't waste food and have supersized meals. America has an over-weight and obese population. Less food means a thinner and healthier population.
Posted by: roadrunner650 | June 11, 2007 at 02:03 AM
what i hate about this push for ethanol (besides of it being subsidised by the government 50 some cents per gallon to make the price look lower than gasoline) is that corn has a pretty low yield when making ethanol from it. why doesn't the government encourage farmers to plant higher yielding plants is beyond me. yes, corn is readily available, but in the end, using corn has a good chance in screwing over the U.S. economy in the end.
Posted by: i hate corn ethanol | June 11, 2007 at 09:17 AM
I mentioned hemp earlier. I read somewhere that it could produce 5 times the ethanol per acre than corn, on crappy land without chemicals. To me, that solves a lot of the economics. Obvious problem, of course, is that you can hide pot plants in a hemp field, and police wouldn't be able to tell with aerial checks. I'm not a pothead hippy, I'm trying to be rational.
What if the best available crop for freeing us from foreign oil also means that we'd seriously have to consider legalizing pot?
Can you imagine the optics of that political fight? Fat right-wing religious oil-barren types driving Yukons and Humvees against emaciated gay vegetarians riding bicycles and smoking pot. There is no room for rational debate in such a scenario.
Posted by: Larry | June 12, 2007 at 09:27 AM
What's driving the cost of food and beverages? it's ENERGY costs. How bad would it have been if ethanol had not helped to extend (by using the 10% blend) this year alone?
Remember that 1 bushel of corn is 56 POUNDS and that only costs $3.50 (compared to $2.50 last year). so a 14 oz. box of corn flakes only contains 7 cents of CORN. I bet you paid a whole lot more to the store than that.
Learn more at http://www.foodfuelamerica.com
Posted by: Editor | June 17, 2007 at 09:41 AM
Competition for land is not what the tequila people are worried about. Advanced ethanol processes, especially cellulosic, are going to have the side effect of putting such cheap vodka on the market that we are going to have to do something to keep spiking of all manner of drinks from getting out of hand.
The meat industry is another one of ethanol's bothered parties. We could easily produce all the liquid fuel we really need (after making plug-in hybrids) just by going mostly vegetarian. These people who say it's immoral to burn food, where have they been, since by the same logic we could have "ended hunger" by fighting meat and obesity?
But biofuels don't cost us money net, as they moderate what OPEC can milk us for and related war. If we sent the savings to Africa, we could really curtail hunger. As long as they don't spend it on the cheap vodka.
Posted by: P Schager | June 22, 2007 at 06:40 AM
In the past U.S. government paid farmers to layout as much as 10% of their productive farmland, besides protecting grain prices. The cost of supplementing ethanol is offset by these costs. The cost of a gallon of gasoline has probably been limited by the cost of ethanol, since as gasoline prices push past the cost of ethanol more drivers choose the less expensive ethanol. Ethanol is likely a short term solution. In the not to distant future battery technology will likely make electric vehicles more practical, reducing the demand on gasoline and ethanol. Longer term the move toward electricity will create a demand for clean electric producing facilities, with solar power becoming more and more prominent as time goes by. Fuel cell vehicles are a fantasy, as they have no net advantage over the improved battery technologies that will be coming out in the next few years, and require a major infrastructure change. It will be interesting to see how long it takes for battery technology to make hybrids obsolete.
Posted by: tooomp | July 04, 2007 at 12:57 AM
Whenever I read all the hula bulla about alternative fuel, espcially consequences of switching over to ethanol as the main alternative fuel, I wonder why people look for the hard way when there is a cheap and easier method of having your car make its own alternative fuel.
I presently use Dr Brown’s gas which basically is HHO (2hydrogen + 1oxygen). Best is that it is my car that produces this fuel alternative that enables me run my cars on less gas but more water with better engine power and more MPG.
So guys, do not worry about booze shortages because of ethanol. All you have to do is switch to Water for gas alternative fuel and pass the word to your friends, and both mankind and the planet earth will be the better for it.
Posted by: Jacskon (Waterforgas) Neshah | January 31, 2008 at 11:16 AM
We found an interesting article about the problems with Ethanol on ConsumerReports.org:
http://blogs.consumerreports.org/cars/2008/03/ethanol-e85.html
"But there are some problems with increasing ethanol blends. Ethanol contains less energy than gasoline, so increasing the amount of ethanol in gasoline will likely result in lower fuel economy. Increasing standard fuel blends from zero to 10 percent ethanol, as is happening today, has little or no impact on fuel economy. In tests, the differences occur within the margin of error, about 0.5 percent. Further increasing ethanol levels to 20 percent reduces fuel economy between 1 and 3 percent, according to testing by the DOE and General Motors. Evaluations are underway to determine if E20 will burn effectively in today's engines without impacting reliability and longevity, and also assessing potential impact on fuel economy."
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