But instead of beer, he would brew ethanol, the crop-based fuel that suddenly has the U.S. in a froth.
But instead of beer, he would brew ethanol, the crop-based fuel that suddenly has the nation in a froth.
"There are implications to dedicating more and more crop land to fuel production rather than food production, " said Tyson Clocum of the consumer watchdog group Public Citizen.
In pursuit of energy independence, the United States is diverting about a quarter of the national corn crop to produce ethanol fuel.
It provides loans to small farmers, trains them in agronomy and sells them seeds and fertiliser, as well as the saplings they must plant if they cut other trees down for fuel to flue-cure their crop.
Their crop is ready to meet fuel demand now, they say, not just in some grand plan.
The report does not give an answer but some economists have made the attempt, variously citing demand from China and other developing nations, the diversion of crop use from food to fuel oil, and production constraints.
ECONOMIST: Investors may not have caused commodity price rises
Experts also say the potential savings here may be offset by higher prices somewhere else as farmers use their more crop land to experiment with alternative fuel crops.
The USDA again raised its estimate of how much of that crop will be consumed by the ethanol fuel industry, which enjoys extensive government incentives, to 4.9 billion bushels, up 100 million bushels from its December estimate.
Either they are serious about affording the public and our country with the means to counter enemy attacks whether undertaken with fuel trucks, ship-borne containers, commercial airliners, crop-dusters or missiles or they are not.
CENTERFORSECURITYPOLICY: The Senate Democrats�� True Colors on Defense
Either they are serious about affording the public and our country with the means to counter enemy attacks -- whether undertaken with fuel trucks, ship-borne containers, commercial airliners, crop-dusters or missiles -- or they are not.
CENTERFORSECURITYPOLICY: The Senate Democrats' True Colors on Defense
This will require that crop land dedicated for this purpose be expanded from 88 million acres now to about 233 million acres (slightly more than half of our 461 million acres total crop land to meet about 7% of our total automotive fuel needs).
Both trends have helped to propel the crop's price to dizzy heights, with the prices of other commodities from which fuel can be made, such as sugar and rapeseed oil.
T. which takes account of the carbon emissions incurred in the growing and harvesting of the crop, including land-clearance, its processing and the CO2 that results from final combustion of the fuel.
FORBES: Land Use Changes Are Main Factor In Carbon Emissions From Biofuels
应用推荐