All Posts Tagged With: "ethanol"
Look Whose Blaming Ethanol Now!
by Gary Truitt
This reminds me of the story of the adolescent who was charged with killing both his parents and then asked the judge for mercy because he was an orphan.
OPEC president Chakib Khelil has a new culprit for the rising cost of oil–ethanol. Mr. Khelil says about 40% of the recent rise in oil prices can be chalked up to ethanol, which accounts for about 1% of the world’s transportation fuel. The other 60%, apparently, is due to a weak dollar and “geopolitical worries.” The problem: OPEC’s boss doesn’t lay out the logic explaining why ethanol blended into gasoline is to blame for high oil prices.
The world ethanol industry was quick to respond to this nonsense.
Alternative energy now going after OPEC
In Response to: Why Thursday May Be a Big Day for Wind Power
by Joseph Ratner
In addition to wind, other alternative energy interest appear to getting feisty and are even standing up to big oil this week.
A coalition of international biofuels organizations appear to have launched an attack on the oil industry cartel OPEC. In an open letter to OPEC president Chakib Khelil published in today’s Financial Times, the Canadian Renewable Fuels Association, European BioEthanol Fuel Association, Sugarcane Industry Association and the Renewable Fuels Association accuse the oil cartel of spreading false claims about ethanol and biofuels to protect their monopolistic hold on world energy supplies and further increase their profits linking to skyrocketing global oil prices.
Gas 2.0 - Opinion: Biofuels, Food Prices and Global Warming Roundup
The current rate at which biofuels are falling out of favor is largely founded on biased ideologies, which have been shaped by widespread political and corporate agenda-pushing from all sides of the fence.
But first, a digression.
Part 1: When an egg was just an egg
I remember a time when an egg was just an egg. Nobody argued about that. It was a blissful time. Yet, for all its strengths, it was a fragile time held together by unsupported conclusions and limited knowledge.
Part 2: The Time of the Bad Egg
Like many a simple concept before it, the idea of an egg as “just an egg” was consumed in a storm of health consciousness and bad hair. I shall call this storm “the 80s.” Richard Simmons was sweating to the oldies, and cholesterol, it was determined, should be ripped from your body. Just like that, eggs were bad.
Part 3: The Time of Ambiguity; When an Egg is Only Halfway Decent if Eaten in Moderation
Luckily for us, we snapped out of the 80s. Sweatbands disappeared and Jazzercise faded from our collective memory. We got around to doing some research and found that there are such things as good cholesterol and bad cholesterol. Turns out you need some of both to remain healthy. And eggs were good again…. but only if you eat less than 7 a week.
Part 4: The Point
From a human health perspective eggs are confusing, and still not very well understood. They’ve been researched to death, yet we still don’t know exactly how they interact with the human body. The only thing I can say about eggs with any confidence is that in ten years time, new research will make the case for eggs even more confusing, yet people will still eat them.
And eggs are tiny.
High Oil Prices? Blame Ethanol, OPEC Says
By: Keith Johnson (Wall Street Journal)
Ethanol is on the ropes because of the food versus fuel debate, but now a new heavyweight just stepped into the ring and this one has got some really big guns.
OPEC president Chakib Khelil has a new culprit for the rising cost of oil–ethanol. Mr. Khelil says about 40% of the recent rise in oil prices can be chalked up to ethanol, which accounts for about 1% of the world’s transportation fuel. The other 60%, apparently, is due to a weak dollar and “geopolitical worries.” The problem: OPEC’s boss doesn’t lay out the logic explaining why ethanol blended into gasoline is to blame for high oil prices.
Why ethanol falls afoul of big oil producers and oil companies is easier to explain. Oil companies don’t want to be forced to shell out for a whole new infrastructure for ethanol, from pipelines to special gas pumps. And ethanol blends in gasoline do make gas supplies go further–not good news for producers at a time when high prices are already starting to dent demand for gasoline, in the U.S. at least.
Big Ethanol is striking back. The world’s four largest ethanol lobbies, The U.S. Renewable Fuels Association, the Canadian Renewable Fuels Association, the European Bioethanol Association, and Brazil’s Sugarcane Industry Association joined forces in a full page open letter to Mr. Khelil published in the Financial Times on Wednesday.
EPIC | Biofuels Not to Blame for World Food Crisis
(Omaha, Neb.) The United States is the world’s largest donor of food aid. Hunger is indeed a world-wide calamity, and it is distressing to think that rising food prices have impacted the budgets of humanitarian organizations around the globe. While Americans are feeling the pinch in the checkout lane, developing nations are seeing years of progress in the battle against poverty and hunger fall by the wayside.
This is not an issue to be taken lightly, as evident by the Bush administration’s release of an additional $200 million in food aid. Americans have never turned a blind eye to humanitarian crises around the world, whether it involves friend or foe. And we will continue to respond, for the factors behind rising food prices and shortages can never be completely eradicated
EPIC | Changing Renewable Fuels Standard Not the Fix to Food Prices
(Omaha, Neb.) – Recent calls to reduce the renewable fuels standard (RFS) seem like an easy and immediate fix to world food shortages. However, the factors influencing global food prices and supplies are a result of converging global production and demand issues that go far beyond corn-based ethanol. Changing U.S. energy policy will not provide short-term relief on the food supply and decrease food prices as many expect. In fact, relaxing the renewable fuels standard mandate actually may escalate food prices now and in the future by driving fuel prices even higher.