Click on the headline (link) for the full text.
Many more articles are available through the Energy Bulletin homepage
Ethanol Craze Cools As Doubts Multiply
Lauren Etter, Wall Street Journal
Claims for Environment, Energy Use Draw Fire;
Fighting on the Farm
—
Little over a year ago, ethanol was winning the hearts and wallets of both Main Street and Wall Street, with promises of greater U.S. energy independence, fewer greenhouse gases and help for the farm economy. Today, the corn-based biofuel is under siege.
In the span of one growing season, ethanol has gone from panacea to pariah in the eyes of some. The critics, which include industries hurt when the price of corn rises, blame ethanol for pushing up food prices, question its environmental bona fides and dispute how much it really helps reduce the need for oil.
(28 November 2007)
Not behind the paywall yet.
Are we backing the wrong fix for global warming?
Jaimal Yogis, San Francisco Magazine
In a history-making deal with oil giant BP, UC Berkeley is pursuing biofuel technology as the way to reduce our carbon footprint. But critics think the university-and Silicon Valley biotech-could be barking up the wrong tree.
—
… Only time will tell if next-generation biofuels will be remembered as a savior, an overhyped concept, or a source of pollution tacked onto a long list of other bad options. But one thing seems clear: the potential negatives of a biofuels economy, alongside the alternatives that bio-fuels may eclipse, should ensure that UC, the public, and the media keep vigilant tabs to ensure that the research coming out of the UC/BP lab actually greens the planet-not just the pocketbooks of the major players. If biofuels go the way of DDT or leaded gasoline, Berkeley could well end up on the wrong side of history. For now, all the players seem well intentioned. But as the lab’s ethics overseer, Dean Kammen, tells me, “The risks are large, and greed is a real problem.”
Keasling and Somerville seem to maintain at least a semblance of healthy skepticism about biofuels and big-oil funding. They realize BP doesn’t have the best environmental record, but, says Keasling, “We have to help them do better.” Both professors also point out that even if the cellulosic technology they obsess about evolves rapidly for cars, other technologies-solar, wind, battery-electric, hydroelectric-will have to come into play to make a real dent in our carbon footprint. “Our best opportunity is conservation,” Somerville says during a ride in his Honda hybrid. “We’ve got about 40 years left of oil, 60 of natural gas. There’s no time to waste.”
The DOE is optimistic about a cellulosic biofuel economy: it has set a goal of making the fuels cost-competitive by 2012. But neither Keasling nor Somerville is willing to risk any firm speculation about when these fuels might reach the market. “Look, we have a lot of work to do,” admits Keasling at the close of our interview. “And to be honest, we could be a long way off from success.”
(? December 2007 issue)
Sidebar: 11 things you need to know about the UC-BP deal.
Corn Ethanol and the Great Dust Bowl
Mindy Lubber, World Changing
The current corn ethanol meltdown — a dual economic and environmental problem — is history repeating itself.
The parallels between the events leading up to the Great Dust Bowl and today’s ethanol mess are unnerving. Each is revealing on what can go wrong when long-term sustainability measures are not taken Into account and how poorly-conceived government subsidies can thwart the best of good intentions.
The origins of the Great Dust Bowl began nearly a century ago when the government exhorted settlers to take their dreams west to the Great Plains. Backed by zero interest loans, free train rides and price guarantees, hundreds of thousands flocked to Texas and Oklahoma to cast their lot as wheat farmers. In less than 10 years, millions of acres of native grassland were plowed under and transformed into vast carpets of gold-tinted wheat. And gold it was: farmers were guaranteed $2 for every bushel they produced. The slogan at that time — “Health, Wealth and Opportunity” — was as accurate as it was optimistic.
Of course, nobody remembered then that the Great Plains had once been listed on U.S. maps as the Great American Desert…
(28 November 2007)
Fuel quest may create food crisis
Paul Syvret, Courier-Mail
THE world is in danger of running out of basic foodstuffs, according to a leading Australian economist.
The shortage will create further dramatic price rises in essential grains such as wheat and corn, accompanied by a tightening of supply, says ABN Amro Morgans chief economist Michael Knox.
Mr Knox blames much of the supply and price crunch on the international demand for grain to be used to manufacture bio-fuels such as ethanol.
“Some people worry about the world running out of oil. They should worry about the world running out of food,” he said in a recent paper.
Wheat prices have tripled to about $US9 a bushel in the past three years, while corn has nearly doubled in price.
(27 November 2007)
