Grist | Topics | 166 Results

RESULTS		Results 126 – 150 of 166
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Headline	Author	Published	Section
Hey, One Thing At a Time NASCAR deals with switch to unleaded fuel, considers adding ethanol		27 Feb 2007	Daily Grist
Hey, One Thing At a Time NASCAR deals with switch to unleaded fuel, considers adding ethanol As the NASCAR season gears up, fans are all atwitter. No, not about the Daytona 500 scandal -- that's so last week. It's the switch to that dang unleaded! This weekend saw the first-ever NASCAR race fueled by the gas the rest of the country's been using for health and environmental reasons since the 1980s, and it wasn' ...
Topics: energy, ethanol, green living, news, sports (all these topics)

Ethanol: clutching at the public purse Is anyone still taking this stuff seriously?	Tom Philpott	05 Feb 2007	Gristmill
President Bush's recent pledge to raise the Renewable Fuel Standard to 35 billion gallons by 2017 dropped with a bit of a thud.David Roberts made a pretty good case that all the recent hype around ethanol may soon prove quaint: that, in essence, the ethanol craze will eventually likely crumble under its weighty political, agricultural, and technological contradictions. Maybe so.Meanwhile, though, farmers are planting a shitload of corn, dozens of ethanol plants are spro ...
Topics: agriculture, biofuels, energy, ethanol (all these topics)

The ethanol love-fest will not last Once subsidies and tariffs are removed, watch out	David Roberts	26 Jan 2007	Gristmill
So, Bush wants massive new ethanol subsidies. He wants 35 billion gallons of "renewable and alternative fuels" -- the vast bulk of which will be corn ethanol -- online by 2017. Right now, there's basically no opposition to this push. It's got support from industry (mainly Big Corn and Big Auto), legislators from both parties, farmers, environmentalists, national security types, and the public at large. That's not going to last. It's clear that there's jus ...
Topics: biofuels, energy, ethanol (all these topics)

Terry Tamminen: Ethanol Let's wonk it out	David Roberts	12 Jan 2007	Gristmill
DR: On our site there are many people highly skeptical about biofuels. For lots of reasons: corn ethanol barely breaks even on energy balance. It's an environmental nightmare, with nitrogen fertilizers in the dead zone in the Gulf of Mexico. It is a commodity sector governed by a few massive multinational corporations, which are lavished with subsidies -- seems awfully reminiscent of the petroleum sector. The inevitable response to any criticism of corn eth ...
Topics: biofuels, energy, ethanol, interview, Terry Tamminen (all these topics)

A Bridge to Somewhere? What we've learned from the biofuels series	Tom Philpott	15 Dec 2006	Main Dish
Future or folly? Photo: iStockphoto After spending much of the last several months thinking about the biofuels boom and its implications in preparation for this special series, we've come to a few conclusions. Like other energy sources, biofuels have significant environmental liabilities. Boosters' rhetoric about "renewable energy" aside, topsoil -- from which biofuel feedstocks spring -- is ...
Topics: ag policy, agriculture, biofuels, cellulosic ethanol, energy, ethanol, politics (all these topics)

FutureFlex/LoveSounds An interview with Mary Beth Stanek, General Motors energy director	Yolanda Crous	15 Dec 2006	Main Dish
Trucks with a green hue? GM is in heaven. What a difference three bucks a gallon makes. In the past year, General Motors has rallied state and federal support to get more E85 (an 85 percent ethanol, 15 percent gasoline blend) pumps at U.S. gas stations, launched a corn-hued marketing blitz, and announced that it is increasing production of its flex-fuel vehicles by 25 percent. Ma ...
Topics: biofuels, business, cars, energy, ethanol, interview (all these topics)

Samba Lessons What Brazil can teach the U.S. about energy and ethanol	Tom Philpott, Gordon Feller	14 Dec 2006	Main Dish
By Tom Philpott and Gordon Feller 14 Dec 2006 In 2006, Brazil officially achieved "energy independence" -- that is, its oil exports came into line with imports and cancelled them out. No longer beholden to foreign suppliers for its energy needs, the nation theoretically has no stake in costly Middle East military adventures to secure access to oil reserves. Grain alcohol? Haven't touched the stuff since college. Phot ...
Topics: biofuels, Brazil, energy, ethanol, oil (all these topics)

Stuck in the Middle with Fuel As its neighbors back biofuels, Central America gears up for business	Eliza Barclay	14 Dec 2006	Main Dish
Driving down either of El Salvador's two principal highways, you're almost sure to end up braking behind a pickup truck that's jammed with people standing shoulder to shoulder. Occasionally these rural taxis are new vehicles, but most are rickety, rusted, and running on antiquated engines and exhaust-spewing diesel. Even though 48 percent of Salvadorans live below t ...
Topics: biofuels, Brazil, Costa Rica, El Salvador, energy, ethanol, Guatemala (all these topics)

Feeding the Beast It's time for a real 'food vs. fuel' debate	Tom Philpott	13 Dec 2006	Victual Reality
It's time for a real "food vs. fuel" debate By Tom Philpott 13 Dec 2006 Grain piled high at an ethanol plant will feed only insatiable driving habits. Photo: iStockphoto Can U.S. farmers keep filling the nation's bellies as they scramble to fuel its cars? Given its evident gravity, the question has drawn remarkably little debate. Like it or not, though, more and more food is being devoted to fueling the nation's 211-million-strong auto fleet. High gasoline prices, ...
Topics: agriculture, biofuels, economy, energy, ethanol, food, fossil fuels, greenhouse-gas emissions, industrial ag, Victual Reality (all these topics)

Miles to Go An interview with Missouri farmer and ethanol co-op member Brian Miles	Yolanda Crous	13 Dec 2006	Main Dish
Cultivating change? Photo: iStockphoto Like his father, grandfather, and great-grandfather before him, Brian Miles spends his days working the family farm. Unlike his forebears, however, he also sits on the board of Mid-Missouri Energy, a farmer-owned ethanol cooperative in Malta Bend, Mo. Grist talked to Miles about the present ethanol boom, the potential for an ethanol bust, and the ...
Topics: agriculture, biofuels, business, energy, ethanol, interview, Missouri (all these topics)

The Ethanol Bill Congress prepares to soak the 2007 Farm Bill in ethanol, to the delight of agribiz.	Tom Philpott	13 Dec 2006	Gristmill
'You can have Republicans and Democrats absolutely in lockstep agreement on certain issues in the farm bill, and it has nothing to do with parties. These issues tend to be commodity-driven,' gushed USDA chief Mike Johanns. Uh-oh. Looks like a good old-fashioned 'bipartisan consensus' has formed: time to use the 2007 Farm Bill as a tool for maximizing ethanol production -- which evidently doesn't already draw enough government support.Talk in the above-linked piece cent ...
Topics: agriculture, biofuels, ethanol, politics (all these topics)

Professor Cellulose Biofuel pioneer Lee Lynd points the way toward a 'carbohydrate economy'	Jennifer Weeks	12 Dec 2006	Main Dish
Biofuel pioneer Lee Lynd points the way toward a "carbohydrate economy" By Jennifer Weeks 12 Dec 2006 Well before cellulosic ethanol became the hot new fuel, Lee Lynd was immersed in it. Since 1987, the engineering professor has been leading a major academic study group on cellulosic ethanol from his perch at Dartmouth. Before that, he even wrote his undergraduate honors thesis on it. Lee Lynd. Photo: Joseph Mehling/Dartmouth More recently, Lynd has been putting his ...
Topics: biofuels, cellulosic ethanol, energy, ethanol, scientific research (all these topics)

It's Happening in Ottawa Grains become fuel at the world's first cellulosic ethanol demo plant	Sharon Boddy	12 Dec 2006	Main Dish
Our plant supplants your plant: a real-life cellulosic ethanol refinery. Photo: Iogen Sometimes it seems virtually anything can be made into fuel. As though, if we had the right technology, we could throw together old T-shirts, bumper stickers, and pine cones to make a magical elixir to run the millions of cars on North America's highways. That's not an entirely far-fetch ...
Topics: biofuels, Canada, cellulosic ethanol, energy, ethanol (all these topics)

Are We There Yet? Not quite, but cellulosic ethanol may be coming sooner than you think	Jennifer Weeks	11 Dec 2006	Main Dish
Even as organizations ranging from Consumers Union to the Cato Institute cast doubt on the environmental value of corn-based ethanol, facilities designed to make it are popping up by the dozen throughout the Midwest. Meanwhile, cellulosic ethanol -- which can be derived from just about any plant matter -- draws near-unanimous environmental raves. Trouble is, the technology requir ...
Topics: ag policy, ag subsidies, agriculture, biofuels, cellulosic ethanol, ethanol, politics, scientific research (all these topics)

Consumer Reports: E85 is jive Flex-fuel vehicles greenwash Detroit's SUV addiction.	Tom Philpott	08 Dec 2006	Gristmill
David mentioned something about it when it came out a couple of months ago, but as Grist wraps up its first week of biofuel coverage, it's worth pointing to again: after much testing and comparing, Consumer Reports finds the whole live-green-go-yellow, E85 thing pretty much a sham. As Grist readers will know, the government gives automakers a credit against their mileage requirements for every flex-fuel vehicle (able to run on ethanol, gas, or a mix). CR's conclusio ...
Topics: biofuels, cars, energy, ethanol (all these topics)

Something Ventured, Something Gained Silicon Valley investor Vinod Khosla chats about the promise of ethanol	Amanda Griscom Little	08 Dec 2006	Main Dish
Venture capitalist and ethanol booster Vinod Khosla. Billionaires are piling onto the biofuels bandwagon. Bill Gates is doing it. Richard Branson is doing it. The Google guys are doing it. Less well-known is the billionaire who kicked off the whole trend: Vinod Khosla, a cofounder of Sun Microsystems and former partner with Kleiner Perkins, the ven ...
Topics: agriculture, biofuels, business, energy, ethanol (all these topics)

Biofuel Skeptic Extraordinaire An interview with David Pimentel	Tom Philpott	08 Dec 2006	Main Dish
Any worthy idea can withstand and even be improved by naysayers; scolds and skeptics play the useful role of pointing out obvious flaws. The biofuels industry has no more persistent, articulate, and scathing critic than David Pimentel, professor emeritus of entomology at Cornell University. David Pimentel. Photo: Chris Hallman / Cornell University Photography. In 1979, with the price of oil surging and a ...
Topics: agriculture, biofuels, energy, ethanol, interview (all these topics)

Strike It Richard Richard Branson chats about embracing ethanol and slashing airplane emissions	Amanda Griscom Little	07 Dec 2006	Main Dish
Does a music mogul who signed the Rolling Stones and Janet Jackson have what it takes to make a pop star out of biofuels? Sir Richard. Earlier this fall, publicity-chasing British entrepreneur Richard Branson made a $3 billion bet that he could do just that -- and help solve the climate crisis to boot -- via Virgin Fuels, a new company in his wide-ranging Virgin Gr ...
Topics: biofuels, business, climate, energy, ethanol, greening biz operations, Richard Branson (all these topics)

More subsidies needed to compete with subsidized subsidizations The ethanol game	biodiversivist	07 Dec 2006	Gristmill
Here is an article I found in the Renewable Energy Access bulletin asking for further government subsidization of cellulosic ethanol so it can compete with other subsidized biofuels. It gave me an idea. I looked up some statistics to see how much oil the Prius fleet has saved and compared it to how much ethanol is consumed. Turns out that the 500,000 Priuses sold save about five to seven times more oil annually than all of the corn ethanol consumed in the United St ...
Topics: electric vehicles, ethanol, hybrids, Prius (all these topics)

Give Green, Go Yellow How cash and corporate pressure pushed ethanol to the fore	Tom Philpott	06 Dec 2006	Main Dish
... got all liquored on that road house corn ... -- Tom Waits, "Gun Street Girl" Before it became widely used as a car fuel, ethanol was just grain liquor -- and the federal government was not particularly kind to it. We pledge allegiance to ADM. Shortly after the American Revolution, the new government imposed a draconian tax on the stuff, hoping to pay down wartime debt. ...
Topics: ag policy, ag subsidies, biofuels, business, energy, ethanol, politics (all these topics)

Coming Soon to a Gas Tank Near You The what, where, and why of E85 ethanol	Sarah Kraybill Burkhalter	06 Dec 2006	Main Dish
If you're like the rest of us, you've probably heard of E85 -- yet don't have the slightest idea what it is. Or if you do have an idea, it's, well, slight. But never fear, friends and neighbors: We've got the skinny on the corn-a-rific fuel that's increasingly on the tips of tongues and in the depths of gas tanks. Lend us your ears. Photo: Ohio Dept. of Agriculture So ... what is i ...
Topics: biofuels, energy, ethanol (all these topics)

Tanks for Nothing On the promise of ethanol	Umbra Fisk	06 Dec 2006	Ask Umbra
Dear Umbra, Lately I've been struggling with the idea of ethanol as a green fuel. It seems to be getting a lot of attention in the government and media, and it is being touted as the answer to this country's petroleum woes (see GM's "Live Green, Go Yellow" campaign). But from what I've read, ethanol production has and will likely continue to have a negative energy balance and its carbon dioxide emissions are comparab ...
Topics: advice, Ask Umbra, Big Ag, ethanol, placemaking (all these topics)

The Balancing Act How experts measure the energy balance of alternative fuels	Julia Olmstead	05 Dec 2006	Main Dish
For years, critics have claimed that corn-based ethanol is fundamentally a bust: that it takes more fossil fuel to produce than it displaces in the gas tank. It takes a lot of ugly to make this pretty biofuel. Photo: industrial-innov.lbl.gov This condition, known as a negative net energy balance, has haunted the biofuel throughout its long career as a darling of corn-belt politicians like ...
Topics: agriculture, biofuels, cellulosic ethanol, deforestation, energy, ethanol (all these topics)

What About the Land? A look at the impacts of biofuels production, in the U.S. and the world	Julia Olmstead	05 Dec 2006	Main Dish
Nothing but blue skies from now on? Photo: house.gov Great news! We can finally scratch "driving less" off our list of ways to curb global warming and reduce our dependence on foreign oil! Biofuels will soon not only replace much of our petroleum, but improve soil fertility and save the American farmer as well! Sound too good to be true? Well, yes. But you coul ...
Topics: agriculture, biofuels, cellulosic ethanol, deforestation, energy, ethanol (all these topics)

Can My Car Do That? Find out which cars can run on ethanol and biodiesel	Kate Sheppard	05 Dec 2006	Main Dish
Going bio with your auto doesn't mean you have to invest in some strange contraption your neighbors will stare at. In fact, upward of 4 million cars currently on the road in the United States are already compatible with E85, a blend of 85 percent ethanol and 15 percent gasoline. More automakers are making new E85-ready models -- known as flex-fuel vehicles -- every year. To top that off, so to s ...
Topics: biofuels, cars, energy, ethanol (all these topics)

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