Ethanol kills grain food market
Source:
http://abcnews.go.com/WN/story?id=4318523 According to a Scientific American research article, The United States would have to convert 100% of it's land to farming Wheat and grain (not just farm land, but all land) to meet 80% of the county's demand for ethanol if 100% of USAmerica switched to the E85 standard. Well, the US is not doing that and some other countries simply can't do that, even though E85 and Ethanol are in more of a demand now than ever. This article is an example of the consequence we are seeing for increased Ethanol and E85 use as less wheat is being farmed to meet the corn's Ethanol demand. You have already seen the prices of milk and eggs rise as corn (used as feed to these animals) has become more expensive due to this alt-fuel demand. But, as it turns out, the pocket pain does not end there. (end my commentary) __________________________________________________ ________ Why You Will Pay More for Bread, Pasta Rising Demand for Wheat Worldwide Means Skyrocketing Bread and Pasta Prices for U.S. http://a.abcnews.com/images/WN/pd_bread_080220_ms.jpg Bakery owner Pam Weeks counts every pinch of flour and watches every penny. "It's just unbelievable how much the price of flour went up overnight β literally," said Weeks, who runs Levain Bakery in New York City. Related Stories * Wheat Hits Record on US Inventory Report * Wheat Prices Surge to All-Time High Top World News with Charles Gibson stories * AS SEEN ON TV: Elder Care Resources * Overwhelmed by Caring for Elders * McCain Denies NYT Report Just a few weeks ago, 50-pound bags of flour cost about $15. Today, they're $40. "You try to figure out ways to cope, but it's to the point now where we are going to have no choice. We're going to have to raise prices," she said. Blame it on the price of wheat. Demand for alternative energy has farmers planting less wheat and more corn, the key ingredient of ethanol. According to the USDA, since 1997, the amount of farmland dedicated to planting wheat has dropped from 70.4 million acres to 60.4 million, while corn acreage has risen from 79.5 million to 99.6 million. Add to that the growing appetite for wheat from developing countries, and the supply is strained. U.S. wheat stockpiles have hit a 60-year low, and wheat prices have never been higher, which means pasta prices have doubled. And that loaf of bread will cost you an extra 20 cents. Economists say food inflation is as high as it has been in nearly 15 years. The price spike is being felt across the globe. In Italy, the cost of pasta is spiraling β up 20 percent since September. Malaysia no longer allows anyone to take flour out of the country. And in Pakistan, they now stockpile wheat and use their military to guard flour mills. "As long as this strong foreign demand continues β as long as the demand for ethanol continues very rapidly ... there just doesn't seem to be any end in sight," said Vic Lespinasse, a grain analyst with Illinois Grain. This puts wheat farmers, like Joe Kejr of Kansas, in the unusual position of being in the driver's seat. "It's real exciting to see where prices are. Prices I haven't seen in my lifetime," Kejr said. With the world's hunger for ethanol changing the landscape of America, Weeks said she wonders at what price it will curb our appetite for wheat. |
Clearly too many people/acre.
|
In short, the appetite of your neightbor's flex-fuel SUV for ethanol is directly competing with your own appetite for food. I wonder which biofuel consumer will win out?
|
Doesn't this article also imply that Ethanol will never really get cheaper in price due to the amount of corn production needed?
|
I always said it was a bad idea to use food as fuel for your car...Honestly, electric is the way to go. People just don't believe it.
|
^---- I'm with you 100%. Even if they got the Water powered car to work, it's still too many moving parts, too much repair cost, and the hydrogen bonding problem (hydrogen 'rust')
|
Electricity has always been my favorite mode of transportation. It's (relatively) quiet, it's efficient(er) and it's clean(er). The only problem so far has been the evolution of the battery. Right now, the best electric car I have seen is the Tesla roadster which is planned for debut pretty soon. It can manage the speed of a standard sedan or compact car (~125mph top speed). It can do 250 miles on one charge and gets really good acceleration. So that proves that it's possible, but it's very expensive to do, the Tesla roadster has an MSRP of $98,000 which is out of reach for most people, but that's mainly because it uses very expensive components, the least of which is not the batteries. Oil companies should spend less time making oil work and more time making batteries better.
|
Don't you love it when the "solution" creates more problems than the original.
|
Quote:
Quote:
|
Quote:
|
Perhaps. But Ethanol essentially would convert oil industries from drillers into harvesters with the same price problems and a whole new breed of ecological problems (eg - clear cutting for crops, limits to crop rotation to maintain growth quotas, etc...)
|
One thing that the "experts" overlook is that using corn for ethanol (fuel), instead of feed for animals, destroys much of the organic matter that would otherwise be incorporated back into the soil. Cow manure is a great addition to most soils, adding both fertility and organic matter. Organic matter feeds soil organisms, improves drainage, improves drought resistance, and holds nutrients in the soil.
|
You can only feed so much grain to a cow befor it gets sick, it's not uncommen for cows to be fed enough grain that they get sick and have to be medicated, but it's done because if you feed grain to beef it makes the fat in the meat white insted of yellow, that yellow is from the chlorophyll in green plants that they have eaten and is a sign of nutrents and a healthy animel, the white fat is harder for people to digest but looks better so it's given a higher grade by the USDA, after all cows have 4 stumics so that they can eat grass off hill sides, not corn out of a troff.
but to head back to the topic, alot of people like my self having been waving our arms in the air saying exactly what is just now being said, it's just to bad that I was crazy back then. |
I did not know that ethanol byproducts went for animal feed, but I guess it is not surprising. Still, I think a lot more energy and organic matter would be preserved by feeding the corn directly to people and animals. Ryland, you are right, cows are so much healthier eating grass and hay. I am not against giving them a little grain to increase milk production. For beef, I think its best for human health (and the animal's) to do strictly grass and hay. Also, most chickens need some grain to produce eggs (especially in winter). Isn't the yellow fat from beta carotene(precursor to vit a)? Probably has vitamin a and d as well. I think that it is probably the same thing that is going on with butter from grassfed cows which is super yellow at the right season (no dye needed!). I know that goats milk is whiter than cows milk (especially cream) because they process the beta carotene into vit a.
|
I was doing some reading on this and contacted a local ethanol plant.
Suprisingly, one of their big products is, get this, ANIMAL FOOD! The ethanol plant creates ethanol, CO2 (sold to beverage companies), and then the leftover "distillers grains" go to feeding animals. It seems that cows and things can actually digest distillers grains far easier than straight corn. It's like you get to use the corn twice! If bio-fuels really ARE the thing driving up food prices. (Not the freaking expensive diesel fuel used to ship the average americam meal 2000 miles...) I would imagine that it is from trying to run bio-fuels the same way oil producers do. By treating everything as a "source" instead of a "system". That is to say, they can see the wood, er boards, but not the forest. We need to start rethinking how we do everything!!!! |
All times are GMT -4. The time now is 01:28 AM. |
Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.11
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions Inc.
Content Relevant URLs by vBSEO 3.5.2
All content copyright EcoModder.com