Appetite for destruction

The grain required to fill a 25-gallon SUV gas tank with ethanol, for instance, could feed one person for a year

The growing myth that corn is a cure-all for our energy woes is leading us toward a potentially dangerous global fight for food. While crop-based ethanol -the latest craze in alternative energy - promises a guilt-free way to keep our gas tanks full, the reality is that overuse of our agricultural resources could have consequences even more drastic than, say, being deprived of our SUVs. It could leave much of the world hungry.

We are facing an epic competition between the 800 million motorists who want to protect their mobility and the two billion poorest people in the world who simply want to survive. In effect, supermarkets and service stations are now competing for the same resources.

This year cars, not people, will claim most of the increase in world grain consumption. The problem is simple: It takes a whole lot of agricultural produce to create a modest amount of automotive fuel.

The grain required to fill a 25-gallon SUV gas tank with ethanol, for instance, could feed one person for a year. If today's entire U.S. grain harvest were converted into fuel for cars, it would still satisfy less than one-sixth of U.S. demand.

Worldwide increase in grain consumption

The U.S. Department of Agriculture reports that world grain consumption will increase by 20 million tons this year, roughly 1%. Of that, 14 million tons will be used to fuel cars in the U.S., leaving only six million tons to cover the world's growing food needs.

Already commodity prices are rising. Sugar prices have doubled over the past 18 months (driven in part by Brazil's use of sugar cane for fuel), and world corn and wheat prices are up one-fourth so far this year.

For the world's poorest people, many of whom spend half or more of their income on food, rising grain prices can quickly become life threatening.

Once stimulated solely by government subsidies, biofuel production is now being driven largely by the runaway price of oil. Many food commodities, including corn, wheat, rice, soybeans, and sugar cane, can be converted into fuel; thus the food and energy economies are beginning to merge.

The market is setting the price for farm commodities at their oil-equivalent value. As the price of oil climbs, so will the price of food.

In some U.S. Cornbelt states, ethanol distilleries are taking over the corn supply. In Iowa, 25 ethanol plants are operating, four are under construction, and another 26 are planned.

Iowa State University economist Bob Wisner observes that if all those plants are built, distilleries would use the entire Iowa corn harvest. In South Dakota, ethanol distilleries are already claiming over half that state's crop.

The key to lessening demand for grain is to commercialize ethanol production from cellulosic materials such as switchgrass or poplar trees, a prospect that is at least five years away.

Malaysia, the leading exporter of palm oil, is emerging as the biofuel leader in Asia. But after approving 32 biodiesel refineries within the past 15 months, it recently suspended further licensing while it assesses the adequacy of its palm oil supplies. Fast-rising global demand for palm oil for both food and biodiesel purposes, coupled with rising domestic needs, has the government concerned that there will not be enough to go around.

Less costly alternatives

There are truly guilt-free alternatives to using food-based fuels. The equivalent of the 3% of U.S. automotive fuel supplies coming from ethanol could be achieved several times over - and at a fraction of the cost - by raising auto fuel-efficiency standards by 20%. (Unfortunately Detroit has resisted this, preferring to produce flex-fuel vehicles that will burn either gasoline or ethanol.)

Or what if we shifted to gas-electric hybrid plug-in cars over the next decade, powering short-distance driving, such as the daily commute or grocery shopping, with electricity?

By investing not in hundreds of wind farms, as we now are, but rather in thousands of them to feed cheap electricity into the grid, the U.S. could have cars running primarily on wind energy, and at the gasoline equivalent of less than $1 a gallon.

Clearly, solutions exist. The world desperately needs a strategy to deal with the emerging food-fuel battle. As the world's leading grain producer and exporter, as well as its largest producer of ethanol, the U.S. is in the driver's seat.

Lester R. Brown is president of the Earth Policy Institute and author of "Plan B 2.0: Rescuing a Planet Under Stress and a Civilization in Trouble."

Read More......

Gore Smear Attack Exposed

Misleading information about high energy consumption by the Gores’ Tennessee home was released in late February by a post-office-box front-group in Nashville. CBS News, the AP, and other media quickly refuted the lies in that right-wing smear. The front-group exaggerated the Gores’ annual energy use by 30,000 kwh and said it got its figures from the Nashville Electric Service. Yet NES spokeswoman Laurie Parker said the utility never received a request from the group and never gave it any information. Apparently unknowingly Time, Newsweek and other main stream media and individuals continued to perpetuate the smear.

It is true that the Gores live in a large home in the city of Belle Meade near Nashville, and use more energy than the average American family. As our former Vice President, he has special security needs that require a live-in staff. Both Al and Tipper manage their businesses and charitable efforts from their home.

Over several years an architect has retrofitted the Gores’ home with energy-efficient windows, lighting and other energy saving efforts. For more than two years the architect has prodded the City to amend its zoning code to allow solar panels. The panels will be permitted after April 1, and they will be installed promptly on the Gores’ home.

The Gores live in the East South-Central climate region that has the highest per-household energy usage of any region in the country as reported by CBS News and AP. It is about 50% higher, and is caused by a combination of cold winters and hot, muggy summers. However, due to energy conservation improvements, the Gores’ per-square-foot energy use is 19.1 kwh, less than the region’s average of 19.83 kwh. The 19.43 kwh figure in an above comment is not correct as it was based on the exaggerated amount asserted by the Nashville front group.

Some feel that during the March 21 Senate Committee hearing Sen. James Inhofe was reasonable when he invited Gore to pledge to use no more energy than the average American. Inhofe was purposely trying to distract and embarrass Gore with an impossible request. The average energy usage figure includes apartments, condos, and other multi-family dwellings. There is no way that even medium sized homes in the East South-Central region could use less energy than the average American.

Gore emphasizes several ways to conserve energy and resources, support policies that create good-paying jobs to protect and improve our environment, and elect officials who champion the reduction of global warming.

The future of our planet and the reduction of global warming are serious, complex issues. Al Gore is working hard to get the truth out. We all need to help to improve our discussions and our efforts.

Bob Alexander, Michigan Co-Chair Draft Gore 2008

Read More......