The future of biofuels is not in corn

New, comprehensive analysis shows how ethanol is being oversold

Washington, DC — The future of biofuels is not in corn, says a new report released today by Food & Water Watch, the Network for New Energy Choices, and the Vermont Law School Institute for Energy and the Environment. The corn ethanol refinery industry, the beneficiary of new renewable fuel targets in the proposed energy legislation as well as proposed loan guarantee subsidies in the 2007 Farm Bill, will not significantly offset U.S. fossil fuel consumption without unacceptable environmental and economic consequences.

“Rural communities won’t benefit from the Farm Bill becoming a fuel bill. In the long run, family farmers and the environment will be losers, while agribusiness, whose political contributions are fueling the ethanol frenzy, will become the winners,


“Rising oil prices, energy security, and global warming concerns have led to today’s ‘go yellow’ hype over corn ethanol,” explained Scott Cullen, Senior Policy Advisor for the Network for New Energy Choices. “But all biofuels are not equal. Expansion of the corn ethanol industry will lead to more water and air pollution and soil erosion of America’s farm belt, while failing to significantly offset fossil fuel use or combat global warming.”

The report, The Rush to Ethanol: Not all BioFuels are Equal, is a comprehensive review of the literature on the environmental and economic implications of pinning our hopes on corn ethanol to reduce dependency on fossil fuels. Report findings include the following…

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