Opinion: Biofuels put bucks over ducks

After the Midwest floods, the corn-ethanol lobby wants conserved land plowed up.
The Christian Science Monitor
from the June 24, 2008 edition

The massive crop loss from Midwest floods has again laid bare the political power of the corn-ethanol lobby. The US Agriculture Department may soon help keep ethanol plants running by letting farmers plow up land set aside for wildlife.

Such a move, being pushed by Sen. Charles Grassley (R) of Iowa, would put birds such as ducks, sage grouse, meadowlarks, pheasants, and bobwhites in jeopardy. It would also chew up millions of acres of trees and endangered prairie that now probably do more to absorb carbon and curb global warming than the expanding corn-ethanol industry can claim for its dubious enterprise.

Under a 1985 farm law that started the federal Conservation Reserve Program (CRP), about 35 million acres of marginal farmland are now purposely idled by USDA to create wildlife habitat, curb soil erosion, and prevent runoff of pollutants from farming. The CRP was originally intended to boost grain prices by idling land during bumper crop years. But it has since turned out to be America's biggest conservation program, becoming a main reason to continue it and similar programs.

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The ethanol option: More using E85 mix, which is cheaper than pure gasoline

Southeast Missourian
Sunday, June 22, 2008
By Brian Blackwell

At $2.94 per gallon, Patricia Ann Smith pumped the E85 blend of gasoline and ethanol into her 2001 white Ford Ranger on Wednesday.

"It's been a great money-saver for me," Smith said as she kept an eye on the amount of fuel she was putting into her vehicle at the Rhodes 101 convenience store at South Sprigg Street and Highway 74 in Cape Girardeau. "Instead of using that money on gas, I can spend it on more things I need, like food. So far, I've been pleased with the results since I began using it earlier this year."

The combination of 85 percent ethanol and 15 percent gasoline is gaining more users since it was introduced in the last few years. Ethanol is an alcohol-based renewable fuel with the aim of increasing octane and improving the emission quality of gasoline. The fuel is made from agricultural products, generally corn.

When MFA Oil Co. in Perryville, Mo., began offering E85 18 months ago, it sold 100 gallons per week. Now it sells 1,000 to 1,500 gallons weekly.

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GrainNet.com
Texas A & M Study: Postponing Renewable Fuel Standards Will Not Reduce Corn Prices
Date Posted: Jun. 24, 2008

Washington, D.C.—Biofuels are needed to help reduce fuel prices, which are the root cause of higher food prices, according to the available evidence.

The Biotechnology Industry Organization today submitted comments to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) opposing Texas Gov. Rick Perry’s (R) request for a waiver of 50 percent of the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) mandate for production of ethanol from grain.

BIO President and CEO Jim Greenwood said, “Texas has not demonstrated in its petition to the EPA that the higher costs for corn currently impacting its livestock and agriculture industries are the result of biofuel production.

In fact, Texas’ own study of the problem shows that the soaring cost of oil is the primary cause of higher agricultural costs and food prices and that relaxing the RFS will not lower corn prices.

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Kansas State University's Grain Science and Industry Program to Offer Degree in Biofuels Production and Management

GrainNet.com
Date Posted: Jun. 25, 2008

Manhattan—The department of grain science and industry at Kansas State University is addressing industry needs by introducing a degree option in biofuels production and management.

"There is a high demand for degrees in plant management or supervision in biofuels," said Fred Fairchild, a professor of grain science and industry.

"We've been made aware of the industry needs and we've adjusted our feed science and management degree to address this."

Starting this fall, students enrolled in the feed science and management program at K-State have the option to focus their majors in either feed production or biofuels production.

The classes offered for the biofuels production degree will cover all principals of processing grains, turning them into fuels and finding uses for the byproducts of the fermentation process.

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Copersucar eyes rise in Brazil ethanol exports

Reuters UK
Wed Jun 25, 2008 12:04am BST

SAO PAULO, June 24 (Reuters) - Brazilian ethanol exports from the center-south could rise this season by at least 50 percent over last year's crop as U.S. demand for the biofuel surges, a top sugar and ethanol trading group said on Tuesday.

Shipments of Brazilian ethanol to the U.S. have become feasible despite a 54-cent-a-gallon import tariff after floods destroyed some of the U.S. corn crop used to make ethanol, driving up the price of both corn and ethanol in the U.S.

"Total exports could reach 4.5 billion to 5 billion liters ... due mainly to the increase in U.S. ethanol prices," said Soren Jensen, international trading manager at Copersucar, one of Brazil's largest sugar and ethanol trading groups.

The South American nation is the world's largest ethanol exporter and the United States is its main customer. Last year the centre-south region, which grows most of the country's cane, exported 3.1 billion liters of ethanol.

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Botanic Energy Resources Make Hot Research Topics

America.gov
24 June 2008

National Arboretum showcases power plants to fuel the future
By Lea TerhuneStaff Writer

Washington -- Plants used or being considered for renewable energy sources are the featured celebrities at the U.S. National Arboretum, highlighted in a special exhibit during its Bioenergy Awareness Days launched June 21.

“Power Plants” features flora from around the world: field crops, palms, trees and flowering annuals. The 0.4-hectare (one-acre) exhibit aims to educate visitors about the raw materials of biomass.

“We have 21 plants on display here that are currently being used to produce ethanol and biodiesel or have the potential to do so. They range all the way from … traditional crops like corn and barley and soybeans and things that are tropical and subtropical, sugar cane and jatropha and cuphea, and even some unusual plants such as algae,” Arboretum Director Thomas S. Elias said.

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Floods give more fuel to critics of ethanol

As corn prices climb, Texas governor is expected to urge EPA to amend rules
By BRETT CLANTON
Copyright 2008 Houston Chronicle
June 23, 2008, 10:43PM

Already under siege from many sides, the U.S. ethanol industry is facing further pressures as recent Midwest flooding pushes corn prices to new highs and federal regulators weigh calls to reduce required use of the fuel.

One of the people calling for that is Gov. Rick Perry, who has scheduled a news conference on the subject today in Washington. Fearing the effects of high corn prices on the state's cattle and poultry industries, he has called on the federal government to suspend or reduce its mandate setting minimum levels of ethanol in the nation's fuel supply.

He is expected to urge the Environmental Protection Agency to amend the ethanol requirement this year, citing its damaging impact on Texas' economy. An EPA comment period on the proposal formally ended Monday.

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Meeting stresses benefits of 'green' industry

The News-Gazette (Champaign, IL)
By Noelle McGee
Thursday, June 26, 2008 7:07 AM CDT

DANVILLE – At first, Danville resident Robert Isaac dismissed the notion of "green" jobs, thinking they were nothing more than a fad. Then he heard that a once-idle steel mill in Gary, Ind., had called back 250 laid-off workers to manufacture steel for wind turbines.

"The opportunities are here, and they're growing. We need to be a part of it," said Isaac, a Bunge Milling employee and vice president of United Steelworkers Local 972. "Danville's had a lot of plants shut down. This is a chance to bring jobs back. ... And we can do something good for the environment."

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Illinois Ag Community Is Divided on Ethanol Policy

Prairie Farmer
Josh Flint jflint@farmprogress.com
June 25, 2008

High grain prices continue to drive a wedge between Illinois grain farmers and pork producers.

At the Illinois Agricultural Legislative Roundtable, the Illinois Pork Producers' Association voiced its opposition to current ethanol policy. The comments came after Adam Nielsen, Illinois Farm Bureau director of issue management, discussed the recent showdown between ethanol and the Grocery Manufacturer's Association.

Phil Borgic, president of IPPA, says the organization first became concerned when the Renewable Fuels Standard was passed in 2005.

"The mandates and subsidies were coming too fast," Borgic notes. "When 70% of your cost is feedstuffs and that has doubled in the past 18 months, that's a big change."

Borgic's heard of large pork producers who have reduced sow herds by 10% in the last 18 months as a result of corn costs. He says the blender's credit and ethanol tariff have created an unfair marketplace in the hunt for corn.

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Abandoned Farmlands Are Key To Sustainable Bioenergy

Science Daily

ScienceDaily (June 24, 2008) — Biofuels can be a sustainable part of the world's energy future, especially if bioenergy agriculture is developed on currently abandoned or degraded agricultural lands, report scientists from the Carnegie Institution and Stanford University. Using these lands for energy crops, instead of converting existing croplands or clearing new land, avoids competition with food production and preserves carbon-storing forests needed to mitigate climate change.

Sustainable bioenergy is likely to satisfy no more than 10% of the demand in the energy-intensive economies of North America, Europe, and Asia. But for some developing countries, notably in Sub-Saharan Africa, the potential exists to supply many times their current energy needs without compromising food supply or destroying forests.

Elliot Campbell, Robert Genova, and Christopher Field of the Carnegie Institution's Department of Global Ecology, with David Lobell of Stanford University, estimated the global extent of abandoned crop and pastureland and calculated their potential for sustainable bioenergy production from historical land-use data, satellite imaging, and ecosystem models. Agricultural areas that have been converted to urban areas or have reverted to forests were not included in the assessment.

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