webfarmer | Random Thoughts on Biofuels

It is a complicated issue and isn't one that will be resolved by any simple analysis or slogan as in "Biofuels good/bad!". As with most things in life, it depends on how you do things.

A couple of random thoughts inspired by

beths_stanley's recent post.

Remember when NAFTA was getting ripped for allowing cheap subsidized corn to go into Mexico and undercut native farmer's local prices? This reportedly drove them off the land and up to El Norte to make a buck.

Now that the price of corn is way up, the complaint is that people can't buy tortillas in Mexico. Which I suppose will drive yet another influx of immigration.

So which corn price should we be supporting?

Also consider what happens when you make corn ethanol. A bunch of corn, instead of going straight into animals for feed, goes through an ethanol plant and comes out as distiller's grains which goes into animals for feed.

Now if one switches to switchgrass, you get more gallons per acre but you also have completely eliminated the food component from those acres. There is no distiller's grains to feed critters.

Of course some people say to use the conservation acres for raising the switchgrass. That starts the flame wars from the conservation groups and rightly so.

My conclusion. There's nothing wrong with biofuels but they have to be within a sustainable guideline when it comes to international trade. Kind of like wood from the Amazon. Certified is good.

The argument that biofuels can't power everything doesn't make the argument that biofuels can't be good for some things. This will especially be the case when we see plugin hybrids hitting the market. All of a sudden, the demand for liquid fuel for transportation will take a massive hit and bring it into line with supply from sources like biofuels.