Ethanol boom could hurt world's poor - expert

[NNN0LHI]

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/N13439572.htm

NEW YORK, July 13 (Reuters) - The race to boost ethanol production could one day hurt food supply for many of the world's poor, an environmental expert said on Thursday.

"This is shaping up as competition between the 800 million people in the world that own automobiles and the 2 billion low- income people in the world, many of whom are already spending over half their income on food," Lester Brown, president of Washington D.C.-based environmental research group Earth Policy Institute, told reporters on a teleconference.

Ethanol production is booming in Brazil and the United States amid record oil prices, a shortage in refinery capacity for production of conventional motor fuels, and increasing fuel demand.

Brazil, the world's leading ethanol producer, uses sugarcane to make the fuel. Prices for sugar futures in February hit a 25-year high of nearly 20 cents per pound, on ethanol demand and as big money funds came into the market.

[benburch]

1. I've been saying this for years.

And told I'm crazy.

[unblock]

2. don't worry, i'm sure there's another reason :)

:evilgrin:

i kid, i kid!

:hi:

[benburch]

3. It's a fair cop.

:silly:

[bigbrother05]

4. Alternative fuels are a stopgap at best.

Even if every extra acre of available land was planted with renewable sources for ethanol, it won't change the long term problem if we continue with the internal combustion engine. The problem is increasing demand for a limited product, whether it's drilled or grown.

Just like whale oil lamps were replaced by electric lights, we need a paradigm shift to a better energy cycle that exploits renewable sources. Ethanol can help to bridge the gap, but we must have better technologies.

[MadHound]

5. Actually we can supply all of our fuel needs with an alternative

Thing is, it isn't ethanol, it's biodiesel.

A smart man over at the University of New Hampshire figured out that we could supply all of our fuel needs with algae based biodiesel, without using one acre of land. Instead, we would need aprox. 15000 sq. miles of water. Now I realize that seems like a *lot* of water, but really, in the greater scope of things, it isn't. Think of 15,000 sq miles as only 1/10 the size of the Sonora desert.

So where would we get all this water? Easy solution, wastewater treatment plants. Every WW plant has holding ponds where raw sewage is kept before it's run through the plant. Well, algae just loves sewage, and will help break it down. So start algae crops in these holding ponds, and you accomplish a two fold purpose. You break down sewage, and are producing a biodiesel crop.

Then all we would have to do is mandate that all vehicles are made using diesel engines within ten years, and relatively minor modifications to our infrastructure, and presto, no more oil addiction.

For reference<http://www.unh.edu/p2/biodiesel/article_alge.html>