Can't we get ethanol from other things too, sugar cane? and can't we turn the left over corn product like the stalk into ethanol? I seem to remember reading something on that..
On 3/28/07, Gruss Gott <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > By which I mean, of course, your gas tank. > > Ethanol is very interesting and, to me, the actual solution to > overseas oil; at least in the short term. If I had to vote on one > technology, it'd be this one simple because most newer engines can > burn it, the distribution network is already in place, and we can > source it locally. A hybrid dual fuel car would be pretty damn > flexible and I don't see any reason why they can't be made today. > > The problem is that corn depends on farming which depends on lots of > stuff including the weather. That raises an interesting question: > does global warming eliminate this option? That would be ironic. > ----------------------------------------------------------------------- > > Corn: The inflation crop > The U.S. is set to report a jump in acreage planted as farmers feed > the ethanol machine. One byproduct: rising food prices. > By Jeff Cox, CNNMoney.com contributing writer > March 28 2007: 7:20 AM EDT > > NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- It's no secret that the rush to ethanol and > other alternative fuels has made corn the rock star of the Farm Belt. > > That newfound prominence has big implications for the nation's > economy, experts say. Soaring corn prices are pushing up the tab for > everything from candy to corn flakes, moribund land values have jumped > in many Midwestern farming communities and the crop has become the > lynchpin for the budding $40 billion ethanol industry. > > With corn farmers now getting $4 a bushel for their crops - double the > price just two years ago - corn's become the crop of choice for > farmers. And with the government's release Friday of a key report > likely to show a jump of 11 percent or more in the amount of acreage > farmers plant with corn this year, the 7,000-year-old crop will remain > front and center in the eyes of economists and millions of other > Americans. > > "It really is a bit of uncharted territory," said Christopher Hurt, an > economist at Purdue University, referring to the vast increase > targeted for corn production. "We've never seen a year where we've > needed to shift so many acres into corn because of a dramatically > large increase in demand for the commodity." > > Corn is the main ingredient in U.S.-made ethanol, the biofuel the Bush > administration hopes will start to wean the United States away from > oil. President Bush has set to reduce gasoline consumption 20 percent > the next 10 years. > > Last year some 2.1 billion bushels of corn produced ethanol at 106 > plants nationwide. That number is expected to jump to 3.5 billion > bushels this year as dozens of new plants come on line or get > expanded, according to the Renewable Fuels Association. > > As corn output jumps, farmland devoted to other crops will drop. > Acreage devoted to cotton, for instance, is expected to show a 14 > percent decline from 2006, according to the National Cotton Council. > Soybeans, wheat, barley, oatsand alfalfa also will be displaced. > > The corn phenomenon will be felt in the market in a variety of ways. > > The high demand for corn, which accounted for about 10 percent of the > $305 billion farm industry last year, will push food bills up faster > than the overall rate of inflation, economists say. That's because > corn and corn-based sweeteners are used in so many foods and soft > drinks. > > Meanwhile, farmers benefiting from higher prices for corn - and higher > land values - could also get higher prices for other crops that corn > has displaced. > > "I think the probability now is very large for 2007 and 2008 that > price increases in the food and beverage sectors are going to outpace > the general inflation rate," said Hurt, who predicted food prices will > rise 5 to 7 percent in each of those years compared to the norm of > about 3 percent. > > "Energy has been the bigger component of inflation these past two > years, while food helped to moderate that. Now you have a scenario > where food and beverage are going to be leading inflation." > > Most economists are predicting the U.S. will say farmers are planting > some 88 million acres with corn this year, up from 78 million in 2006. > The Department of Agriculture is due to release its annual crop survey > on Friday. March is a pivotal month for the survey because it's when > farmers announce their planting intentions. Corn prices are expected > to stabilize around $4 a bushel, up 20 percent from last year and a > 100 percent spike over 2005. > > But into each crop's life a little rain must fall, and too much > precipitation could spoil corn's reign as king of the crops. > > A wet spring would delay corn planting. A shorter growing season would > cut output and could cause nasty swings in prices. A spike in prices > would hurt the ethanol industry, which is depending on stable costs. > > A study at Iowa State University several months ago pegged at $4.05 a > bushel the maximum price that ethanol plants could pay and remain > profitable. Any rise beyond that would greatly reduce the incentives > to build new plants and make ethanol, sending the corn industry and > the U.S. energy policy into a dual tailspin. > > Mark Schultz, an analyst at Northstar Commodity Investment Co. in > Minneapolis, believes that excessive rainfall is the only thing that > can slow down the corn market. "The demand continues to get stronger > for ethanol and that's going to continue on. We don't see anything > slowing that down at the present time," Schultz said. > > But he's also watching other effects of corn's growth, and notes that > the increase in corn prices has meant less feed for livestock. Cattle > weights have dropped 10 to 20 pounds during the past year, he said. > Experts disagree on whether the falling cattle weights will lead to > higher beef prices. > > William Plummer, a commodities trading adviser at Wextrust Capital > based in Chicago, said he is bullish long-term on corn prices. > > "I don't think we can ramp up production of agricultural products fast > enough to compensate for the growth of ethanol facilities in the > U.S.," he said. > > "This price level that we're looking at right now is going to be on > the low side or certainly the medium-low side of where we're going to > be. We're not going to see corn under three bucks unless there's some > sort of catastrophe." > > ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~| ColdFusion MX7 by Adobe® Dyncamically transform webcontent into Adobe PDF with new ColdFusion MX7. Free Trial. http://www.adobe.com/products/coldfusion?sdid=RVJV Archive: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/CF-Community/message.cfm/messageid:231432 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/CF-Community/subscribe.cfm Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/unsubscribe.cfm?user=89.70.5
