An article out yesterday pointed out that a "US Program seeks to increase use of E-85 fuel":
DES MOINES, Iowa – The federal government wants to increase production and use of a higher blend of ethanol fuel by giving financial assistance to gas stations that install more pumps for the fuel, U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said in advance of a formal announcement planned for Friday.
Vilsack said President Barack Obama wants the U.S. Department of Agriculture to help ensure 10,000 flex-fuel pumps for E-85 are available across the country within the next five years.
E-85 is a blend of 85 percent ethanol and 15 percent gasoline. Current ethanol blends contain 10 percent ethanol. There are 8 million flexible fuel vehicles currently on the nation's roads and 2,300 stations where people can get E-85, Vilsack said.
"The president was pretty clear that he wants to reduce our nation's net dependence on foreign oil by one-third by 2025," Vilsack told The Associated Press. "One way to do that is to increase production and increase use of renewable biofuels."
The "renewable biofuels" are, mostly, to date, made of corn grown here in the US. That's why the news is out of Iowa, of course.
When I was in college, back in the 70's (note: 40 years ago), my political science professor at the time mentioned how crazy and irresponsible it would be--is--to tie food and food prices to energy and energy consumption.
And you know what?
He was right.
It's crazy that countries all over the world and so, Third World countries, too, would pay higher prices so we can drive our cars in this country.
As it turns out, it's not just corn, either, but cassava, too, and many populations depend on cassava for food.
The end result? Here is what is happening:
There is an absolute and direct correlation between the increased use and consumption of crops raised for fuel and their prices, worldwide.
It's insane. It's irresponsible. It's misguided and it's dangerous to and for the world's poor and there are millions of them across the planet.
This is yet one more reason we need to do far more research on clean and renewable energy sources, particularly and especially having to do with both passive and active solar through solar panels (passive) and photovoltaic cells (active). They are, in fact, cleaner and don't cause this kind of gross disparity in food prices across the planet.
Pushing biofuels in order to decrease our dependence on foreign oil made me think of the following picture I saw on Facebook recently:
This is what the effect of pushing biofuels on the markets, in effect, has on the Third World.
I think we want to be better people than this, don't you?
Posts
3 comments:
It's a corn and soybean ghetto in the Heartland. We would have to put the plow to every inch of land in the USA to make a very, small dent in gas prices. On top of that there is less energy in ethanol/alcohol than in gasoline.
There's a corn and soybean ghetto in the Heartland
And a Big Time Operator's gonna farm it all
They got new pain disease
Losing money planting seeds
Making it up with LDP and puts and calls...
Two thoughts:
A) I agree. I think you're absolutely correct and that the science and just physicality of the fields proves it and
B) Have you put that to lyrics yet?
That should have read They have new paint disease.
Here's another verse
There's a million hogs sittin' in ol' Joe's hog barns
And they'll never touch the earth or see the light of day
Once hogs could raise a farmer's mortgage
But now they bring the promise of janitor's pay
Post a Comment