04 October 2007

Ethanol: evidently NOT the right choice

OOOPS.

Remember when I made my first cynical comments on ethanol? I likened the ethanol craze to intoxication. Well, evidently some farmers are waking up with a hang-over this fall. Reports are indicating that corn supply has far surpassed the demand by ethanol producers. And it is hurting the farmer's bottom line. I'm ready to pull out those green signs around the county that state Ethanol: the right choice.

We were watching the news last night when this report came across. Then they interviewed an old friend of mine.....which obviously sparked my interest. Dave decided to turn his farming operation into an entertainment venue with a corn maze and corn cannon to offset the sluggish corn demand. I feel bad for farmers, I really do, and I guess it is possible that demand may go up as more refineries come on line.......but I wouldn't put all my eggs in one basket.

Here's a thought. Since our terribly conservative state is quickly heading down the gaming/entertainment path.......maybe we should take a lesson from my old friend Dave and put a few slot machines in the corn mazes too!

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I agree with your assessment that ethanol is not the right choice. However lets look at some of the reasons that have contributed to the current ethanol sales slump. One, there are very few retail ditribution points for ethanol. Two, There are not a signifigant number of vehicles on the road that can use E85. Three, unless one and two increase dramatically, new Ethanol Stills, will never go on line because there is no way to make them economical unless of course our self described conservative US Senators from Indiana push for subsidies ( a true contradiction.)
National Geographic has an excellent article on Growing Fuels in this months issue. Everyone should read it. Fuel efficiency should be the primary focus and not how we can find a way to continue our wasteful habits by using food grains for fuel!

Anonymous said...

I agree with your assesment as well and will take a look at the NG article. I think in my first rant I suggested we have to curb consumption, otherwise, we'll be like locusts after having consumed one resource land on another one. It may be "renewable" but has some significant consequences.....as does unbridled growth.

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