The answer isn’t ethanol

Before we become too sanguine regarding the use of ethanol to reduce our dependence on imported oil, it is worth looking at a report by Lester Brown, one of the nation’s leading agricultural and environmental analysts. This report by Brown, the founder of the Earth Policy Institute, should give pause to even the most optimistic advocate of ethanol.

Brown warns that U.S. ethanol production is on course to consume half of our corn production by next year. He states the 111 ethanol distilleries in operation will need 153 million tons of corn next year, which is far larger than the forecast of 66 million tons by the Department of Agriculture. He forecasts that corn prices will continue to soar in the next two to three years, resulting in a supply squeeze that will limit the availability of corn for food and animal consumption. Indeed, corn prices have risen 86 percent in the past 12 months, according to the Department of Agriculture.

Roanoke