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Headline	Author	Published	Section
A revolt against ethanol? NYT: Consumers are complaining about ethanol-spiked gasoline	Tom Philpott	29 Jul 2008	Gristmill
As ethanol continues to insinuate itself into the fuel supply -- propelled by a slew of government goodies -- ordinary folks are getting fed up, The New York Times reports: Many consumers complain that ethanol, which constitutes as much as 10 percent of the fuel they buy in most states, hurts gas mileage and chokes the engines of their boats and motorcycles. In Oklahoma, some vendors are refusing to sell ethanol-spiked gasoline. And they're winning customers with ...
Topics: biofuels, energy, ethanol, fuel efficiency (all these topics)

Sweetening the deal Lugar calls for end to tariff on Brazilian sugarcane ethanol	Kate Sheppard	03 Jul 2008	Gristmill
Sen. Dick Lugar (R-Ind.) stopped by ($ub. req'd) the American Enterprise Institute yesterday to give a speech arguing that Congress should lift the 54-cents-a-gallon tariff on imported ethanol. 'To demonstrate leadership the United States should lift its tariff on Brazilian ethanol that now shelters the U.S. industry,' Lugar told the AEI crowd. Many politicians -- including Lugar, who's from a big corn state -- have supported the tariff to protect American biofuel ...
Topics: biofuels, energy, ethanol, Muckraker, news, politics (all these topics)

A fuel's errand Republican House members ask EPA to scale back ethanol mandate	Kate Sheppard	02 Jul 2008	Gristmill
More than 50 Republican representatives sent a letter [PDF] to the Environmental Protection Agency last week urging the agency to lower the mandate for ethanol production in response to both the recent flooding in the Midwest and drought in the South. They argue that one-third of the country's corn crop will be used for ethanol to meet the Renewable Fuel Standard, and while the weather this year will cause a decrease in supply of corn, the RFS will increase demand ...
Topics: biofuels, Congress, energy, ethanol, Muckraker, news, politics, regulation, severe weather, US EPA (all these topics)

How biofuels are like drugs Not all biofuels are the same; we can do biofuel well or poorly	Vinod Khosla	17 Jun 2008	Gristmill
To my surprise, recently I found myself the subject of an editorial by the Wall Street Journal which characterized me as a strong advocate of subsidies for food-based ethanol, and as a recipient of 'federal dole' who ought to 'take a vow of embarrassed silence.' I have not advocated subsidies for food-based ethanol. In fact, I strongly believe any nascent technology that cannot exist without subsidies beyond an introductory period will not gain market penetrati ...
Topics: biofuels, cellulosic ethanol, energy, ethanol (all these topics)

Corn polls New surveys suggest changing views on biofuels	Ron Steenblik	11 Jun 2008	Gristmill
Biofuel policy has made it to the polls. Yesterday, the National Center for Public Policy Research, a nonprofit, non-partisan educational foundation based in Washington, D.C., released the results of a survey (PDF) conducted at the beginning of this month which claims to have found that most Americans -- 'including those in the Farm Belt' -- want Congress to reduce or eliminate the mandated use of corn ethanol. In response to the key question, 'What do you think Congr ...
Topics: agriculture, biofuels, climate, energy, ethanol, European Union, politics (all these topics)

The farm bill ups the cellulosic ethanol ante Lost amid the crop-subsidy battle, a new biofuel regime	Tom Philpott	24 May 2008	Gristmill
Amid all the thunder and lightening about subsidies in the new farm bill -- which officially became law Thursday -- Congress made a major policy shift with regard to the goodies lavished on ethanol makers. Under previous policy, biofuel makers -- whether conventional or cellulosic -- benefit from a 51 cent a gallon tax credit conferred on gasoline blenders. No any more. According to a recent Environmental Law & Policy Center memorandum [PDF] summing up th ...
Topics: ag policy, agriculture, biofuels, energy, ethanol, legislation, politics (all these topics)

'The Clean Energy Scam' Biofuel boom leveling rainforest, Time reports	Tom Philpott	30 Mar 2008	Gristmill
From an excellent article in Time: Indonesia has bulldozed and burned so much wilderness to grow palm oil trees for biodiesel that its ranking among the world's top carbon emitters has surged from 21st to third according to a report by Wetlands International. Malaysia is converting forests into palm oil farms so rapidly that it's running out of uncultivated land. But most of the damage created by biofuels will be less direct and less obvious. In Brazil, for instance, ...
Topics: agriculture, biofuels, Brazil, deforestation, energy, ethanol, rainforests (all these topics)

Bush: Not a Gristmill reader President hails cellulosic ethanol as a panacea	Tom Philpott	06 Mar 2008	Gristmill
I'm offended: President Bush evidently hasn't been following my string of posts about how cellulosic ethanol probably won't ever be viable. Addressing a renewable-energy conference, the president fretted that the ethanol boom he set in motion is 'beginning to affect the price of food.' He added: 'So we got to do something about it.' And what we 'got to do,' evidently, is throw more cash at cellulosic ethanol. Here's how The New York Times summed up his statement: ...
Topics: agriculture, biofuels, cellulosic ethanol, energy, ethanol, George Bush, politics (all these topics)

Cellulosic ethanol: not likely to be viable New study from mainstream ag economists at Iowa State	Tom Philpott	03 Mar 2008	Gristmill
Cellulosic ethanol represents a beacon on the horizon -- the justification cited by wiseguys like Vinod Khosla for dropping billions per year in public cash to prop up corn ethanol production. Corn ethanol, you see, is a bridge to a bright cellulosic future. But the beacon is looking more and more like a mirage, a ghost, a specter; the bridge we're hurtling down may well lead to a chasm. A quiet consensus seems to be forming among people you'd think would know th ...
Topics: ag policy, agriculture, biofuels, cellulosic ethanol, energy, ethanol, politics (all these topics)

Biofuel blight: tastes great, less filling Alcohol refinery may enhance tourist industry	biodiversivist	03 Mar 2008	Gristmill
Tourists, bird watchers, and native cattle herders in Kenya's Tana River delta may soon have a spanking-new alcohol refinery in the middle of their wetland. Granted, the wetland will be slightly less wet because a third of its water will be diverted to cropland. Always one to look for a silver lining, I would hope that this refinery will include an air-conditioned bar where tourists and herders alike can gather for happy hour after a long, hot day of wildlife viewing ...
Topics: agriculture, biofuels, cellulosic ethanol, energy, ethanol, Richard Branson (all these topics)

It's bloomin' idiotic Can words describe how bad corn ethanol is?	Joseph Romm	02 Mar 2008	Gristmill
Well, maybe my words can't describe how bad corn ethanol is, or Mayor Bloomberg's, or those of top scientists, but I think I have found someone's words that do: Opus's from Bloom Country. First, however, the lastest grim news from Fortune: 'The ethanol boom is running out of gas as corn prices spike.' Yes, 'plans for as many as 50 new ethanol plants have been shelved in recent months.' Why? Spurred by an ethanol plant construction binge, corn prices have gon ...
Topics: agriculture, biofuels, energy, ethanol (all these topics)

ILSR, spinning like a top	JMG	19 Feb 2008	Gristmill
This is really, really sad. A group, the Institute for Local Self-Reliance, which has done stalwart work on relocalizing the economy, has let their pro-local passion overcome their principles. Now they simply embarass themselves, beating the drums for corn ethanol, using flackery techniques that would do any corporate PR shop proud. Let's start in: New Anti-Ethanol Studies Reach Wrong Conclusion on Greenhouse Gases Wow, quite a headline, about not one but two studie ...
Topics: agriculture, biofuels, climate, energy, ethanol (all these topics)

Biofuels and the fertilizer problem Can a 'renewable fuel' rely on mining a finite resource?	Tom Philpott	13 Feb 2008	Gristmill
While scrolling through news accounts of the recent boom in the agrochemicals industry -- yes, that's how I spend my days -- I came across an interesting take on biofuels and phosphate, a key element of soil fertility. The article, from Investors Business Daily, takes a standard rah-rah position on what it deems a 'heyday in the heartland.' The journal wants to make sure its readers know there's plenty of cash to be made investing in the companies catering to the gre ...
Topics: agriculture, biofuels, cellulosic ethanol, energy, ethanol, industrial ag, sustainable ag (all these topics)

Biofuels bombshell Researchers find corn ethanol, switchgrass could worsen global warming	Frank O'Donnell	07 Feb 2008	Gristmill
Some very respected researchers today have lobbed a real bombshell into the energy public policy world: they have concluded that ethanol produced both by corn and switchgrass could worsen global warming. In other words, Congress really blew it last year when it mandated a massive increase in biofuels (an action coated with green language but really an effort by both political parties to cater to farm states). This is also a slap at President Bush's effort to pa ...
Topics: biofuels, climate, energy, ethanol, politics (all these topics)

Next market bubble: farmland! Thanks to the ethanol boom, big investors are plowing cash into corn country	Tom Philpott	07 Feb 2008	Gristmill
Big investors seem to have forgotten how to exist without some sort of speculative bubble. In the last decade, they've whipped cash from tech stocks to bonds to emerging markets to real estate to junk mortgages. With the latter bubble now deflating rapidly, they've turned to ... Midwestern farmland? Yes, big cornfields. Here's a Chicago asset manager talking about who's buying up farmland, quoted in USA Today: It's everybody from the person concerned about the sto ...
Topics: agriculture, biofuels, business, economy, energy, ethanol (all these topics)

USDA food-safety czar: Ethanol waste causes tainted beef -- and that's okay Let cows eat vaccines along with distillers grains	Tom Philpott	28 Jan 2008	Gristmill
In December, a study came out suggesting a link between distillers grains -- a waste product of the corn-ethanol process -- and a spike in cases of beef tainted with the deadly E. coli 0157 virus. You see, the government-mandated ethanol boom has dramatically pushed up corn prices. To cut costs, feedlot operators have been substituting cheap distillers grains for pricey corn. Thus in the past year or so, we've seen an explosion in use of distillers grain as livestock ...
Topics: agriculture, biofuels, Department of Agriculture, energy, ethanol, food (all these topics)

Stock analysts v. venture capitalists Tom Konrad on cellulosic electricity	Guest author	24 Jan 2008	Gristmill
The following is a guest essay by Tom Konrad, a financial analyst specializing in renewable energy and energy efficiency companies, a freelance writer, and a contributor to AltEnergyStocks.com. ----- Romm v. Khosla In a persuasive series of articles entitled "Pragmatists vs. Environmentalists" (Parts I, II, and III), Vinod Khosla has provided the reasoning behind his "dissing" of plug-in hybrids, which drew the ire of Joseph Romm. Nei ...
Topics: biofuels, business, cellulosic ethanol, energy, ethanol, renewable energy (all these topics)

Biomass, part I Where will biofuels and biomass feedstocks come from?	Vinod Khosla	22 Jan 2008	Gristmill
When it comes to biofuels we have choices. We can do it poorly, using short-run approaches with no potential to scale, poor trajectory, and adverse environmental impact. Or we can do it right, with sustainable, long-term solutions that can meet both our biofuel needs and our environmental needs. We do need strong regulation to ensure against land-use abuses. I have suggested that each cellulosic facility be individually certified with a LEEDS-like 'CLAW' ratin ...
Topics: agriculture, biofuels, cellulosic ethanol, energy, ethanol (all these topics)

Why Vinod Khosla is very wrong A pragmatic view of cellulosic biofuels	Joseph Romm	17 Jan 2008	Gristmill
So Vinod Khosla is not happy with with my recent attack on his (willful) ignorance, 'Khosla blows his credibility dissing plug-ins.' Gristmill has given the billionaire a platform to defend himself, but he just spouts even more nonsense in the bizarrely titled post, 'Pragmatists v. environmentalists, part I': I have been accused of dissing hybrids. I was mostly discussing Prius-type parallel hybrids and all the support they get, when one can get the same carbon ...
Topics: biofuels, cars, cellulosic ethanol, electric vehicles, energy, ethanol, hybrids, Prius (all these topics)

Cellulosic ethanol: It might be a bust Thus spake Chairman Peterson of the House Ag Committee	Tom Philpott	17 Jan 2008	Gristmill
David already pointed to it, but it bears repeating: House Ag Committee Chairman Colin Peterson, a tireless champion of ethanol and any other big-ag project he can get his mits on, has declared that cellulosic ethanol could well never 'get off the ground.' At best, he declared, cellulosic ethanol stands at least 10 years away from commercial viability (exactly what cellulosic boosters have been saying for three decades). Wait a minute. Ethanol's champions have long c ...
Topics: biofuels, cellulosic ethanol, energy, ethanol, politics (all these topics)

Notable quotable	David Roberts	16 Jan 2008	Gristmill
"I really think the more I look at this whole cellulosic issue, there is a lot bigger problem to overcome here than people realize in terms of the feedstocks. We have a lot of work to do in that regard. I'm not sure cellulosic ethanol will ever get off the ground." -- Rep. Collin Peterson (D-Minn.), chairman of the House Agriculture Committee
Topics: cellulosic ethanol, ethanol, biofuels, energy, agriculture (all these topics)

BigThink Smart people talk about serious questions	David Roberts	14 Jan 2008	Gristmill
Check out this cool new site, BigThink. It's a collection of short video interviews with notable or famous people, asking them a series of common questions. Strangely addictive. The environment section is fairly anemic thus far (the site just launched a few weeks ago), but you can watch Mitt Romney, Dennis Kucinich, John McCain, and Bill Richardson all answering the question, Is ethanol overhyped? (Hint: Cellulosic! Cellulosic!) Also, I really like Gillian Caldwell, ...
Topics: ethanol, biofuels, energy, politics, websites (all these topics)

Pragmatists v. environmentalists, part I Prius: Green or greenwash?	Vinod Khosla	14 Jan 2008	Gristmill
I have been accused of dissing hybrids. I was mostly discussing Prius-type parallel hybrids and all the support they get, when one can get the same carbon reduction by buying a cheaper, similar-sized and -featured car and buying $10 worth of carbon credits. I was objecting to greenwashing (powered by a large marketing machine) that suggests hybrids can solve our problems. Corn ethanol, which has been heavily maligned in the mainstream media, reduces carbon emis ...
Topics: biofuels, Prius, energy, cars, hybrids, electric vehicles, ethanol (all these topics)

Monsanto counts its cash Seed-and-chemical giant sees its profit triple	Tom Philpott	04 Jan 2008	Gristmill
In a gold rush, the firms that supply the gold diggers with tools -- not the gold diggers themselves -- make the highest and steadiest profits. That's a platitude, but it's also usually true. And it's now playing out in the boom in corn-based ethanol. Don't waste much time envying corn farmers. Sure, they've seen the price of their product double over the past year and a half or so. But they've also seen their costs inch up. Fertilizer, land rents (much of the farml ...
Topics: agriculture, biofuels, business, energy, ethanol, food, industrial ag (all these topics)

A negative-carbon corn ethanol plant? Cogeneration and ethanol production	Joseph Romm	03 Jan 2008	Gristmill
I am not the biggest fan of corn ethanol. But I am the biggest fan of cogeneration, also known as combined heat and power, or CHP (well, maybe the second-biggest fan). It is probably the single most overlooked strategy for sharply cutting greenhouse-gas emissions while reducing overall energy costs. Now a new EPA report finds that running an ethanol plant on natural gas CHP can, with the right design, result in negative net CO2 emissions (click on figure to enlarge) ...
Topics: biofuels, climate, cogeneration, energy, ethanol, greenhouse-gas emissions (all these topics)

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