Ethanol - net carbon emitter?

Fascinating article in Time points toward Ethanol as a fuel being a net carbon emitter. Further more, it's a worse emitter than gasoline, except where it is derived from sugar cane.

Why?

In simple terms, ethanol comes from corn, corn sells for more than soy, soy farmers switch to corn, cattle farmers are displaced by new soy farmers, cattle farmers destroy the rain forest to make new pasture land. The amazon is a HUGE carbon store, and that carbon is being released to the atmosphere.

Ethanol is also having less obvious side effects. The price of food is going up with the price of corn. The price of flour in Pakistan is raising, and actually destabilizing the entire country.


A prime example of how a solution to one problem can actually have knock on effects causing massive problems in another area. You can't view things in isolation - you must think through the ramifications of every action. And the ramifications of the ramifications. And so one, and so forth. This is why politics isn't as simple as it seems from your armchair.

The price of rice is rising as well and on radio 4 the other day they were discussing how much affect this is having on singapore, apparently it's pretty bad.

totally, thats been pissing me off for ages now,
the push for biofuel over solar/wind and water.

if you're not concerned about co2 though its smart, far more renewable than extracting oil from the earth. and since i've seen little evidence that any government is in actuality concerned about co2 i can see why its going this way.

Even then though, one of the main things that drives the quality of living available in the Western world is a plentiful supply of cheap food. The availability of cheap food is a result of cheap corn. As ethanol production increases, the price of corn will increase, so the price of food will increase.

Doesn't surprise me one bit.

Already in motion! Beef prices on the rise! Farmers are selling their corn for higher prices to
biofuel companies, Dairy Product are already up and for what? -to line to prestige pockets of
a few politicians and make some more money for government supported tax relief big
business men to rake in the profits at the expense of the planet! A very sick plan that was
implemented before anyone could react to it!