Corn-Derived Ethanol Shares Blame for Food Price Hikes

http://www.voanews.com/english/2007-10-16-voa12.cfm

By Greg Flakus
Houston
16 October 2007

In recent months food costs in the United States have gone up by well over six percent and some economists see government-mandated use of bio-fuels as a key reason. But, as VOA's Greg Flakus reports from Houston, both agriculture representatives and energy experts say development of such fuels will be necessary to feed an energy-starved world economy.

At the Bio-fuels conference here in Houston Monday, oil industry executives, venture capitalists and bio-fuel industry representatives focused on the future of renewable energy from the farm belt. With the price of oil rising almost daily and fears that world production will not be able to keep up with demand, experts are looking at every kind of alternative energy including ethanol and bio-diesel. But rising food costs associated with these fuels have raised concerns about their long-term viability.

Among conference speakers was John Ashworth of the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Golden, Colorado, who told VOA the ethanol industry's reliance on corn has had some noticeable impact on food prices, especially meat.

"Because grain is valuable, when you take a good chunk of that supply out for making fuels, you are going to have upward pressure on the price of the raw material. Particularly for the cattle industry, which uses a lot of corn, when the price of corn goes up, then the price of beef is going to go up," he said.

also proposed funding and research into lithium-ion batteries.

I think it's too late for "fuel" of any kind these days. Even water -- we don't have enough of that to go around any more...

The price went up because it could. Deregulation at work again. People have to eat, so they will pay what they have to.

Why did canned green beans and peas go up? Why did frozen broccoli go up?

It takes fuel to deliver the cans. Fuel prices go up and it is passed on to the consumer.

...green beans, peas and broccoli, common sense would dictate that there will be less green beans, peas and broccoli on the market.

Supply and demand.

Don

Better efficiency is the only thing that will really help and Congress keeps backing off of that.

Cellulose ethanol is far better in comparison in that it doesn't eat into the food supply and that it generates lignin, which could be used as added fuel for cellulose ethanol plants.

http://zfacts.com/p/85.html

Just burns me up when I hear some Democrat talking about the up and coming ethanol industry. And I know damn well they know it is a scam. Sometimes I just get real pissed off.

Don

i realized that as soon as they brought up corn ethanol as a fuel. i`ve lived long enough out here in the cornfields to know mother nature decides how the growing season is going to be...

it`s a great idea for the farmers to use ethanol or bio diesel and that`s about it.