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160 Comments
- cshaaban, on 07/03/2008, -1/+59Who didn't see this coming?
- MorganMghee, on 07/04/2008, -2/+49Not 'biofuels', Corn Ethenol.
- kfreund76, on 07/03/2008, -3/+48Stop with the corn. It almost takes more energy to produce ethanol from corn than the fuel itself produces. Time to look into algae or jatropha grown on fallow lands. I just hope the baby doesn't get thrown out with the bathwater in this whole debacle.
- alapoet, on 07/03/2008, -4/+43If they'd use hemp instead of corn for the biofuel source, this wouldn't be a problem.
- danno1982, on 07/03/2008, -2/+29Supply and demand works again.
- allaboutdatiki, on 07/04/2008, -5/+26GREED is the cause of the Global Food Crisis. And lets not forget about all the corn that goes into crap like high fructose corn syrup ... not to mention the huge amount of corn fed to chickens, pigs, and cows.
If we took half our backyards, tilled them up and planted fruits and vegetables instead of growing grass, we'd have it beat. All of it. - mmilton, on 07/04/2008, -3/+2025% of U.S corn production is for ethanol partly because congress recently passed a dumb law giving them incentives to do so. Congress should admit its mistake and rescind the law now.
- Godlike, on 07/04/2008, -1/+18HFCS is the stupidest thing ever.
It makes soda taste like *****.
It makes you feel like *****.
It is of questionable safety.
It is costlier to use than sugar by loads, so the government pays subsidies to Coke and Pepsi and gives them tax breaks in order to use it. (That's right, the Gov't is making the problem 10x worse in several arenas, wonder why they won't back down...)
It just plain isn't necessary. It is a total waste and I have no idea why the gov't gives them tax cuts to use corn. - csteele, on 07/03/2008, -1/+16yeah, I gotta say, this isn't shocking to me... especially not since I heard a report on NPR that food in America typically travels in excess of 6k miles before it hits your table -- with $4/gal gas, 6,000 miles makes even an apple expensive beyond reason. Locavores unite! (I'm not a locavore, I'm a cheapavore)
- TheRealToma, on 07/04/2008, -1/+15If they figured out a way to run cars drained directly from peoples fat asses then there wouldnt be a problem.
- prisoner24601, on 07/04/2008, -0/+12The problem is actually really simple. The first presidential primary is in Iowa. The ethanol lobby forces candidates to commit to ethanol or they have no chance of getting any traction. As strange as this seems, the stupid primary system giving Iowa this "blessing" every cycle has made BURNING FOOD a major energy strategy for the US regardless of how stupid it is.
Rolling Stone did a great article on this:
http://digg.com/environment/The_Ethanol_Scam_and_T ... - Sornos, on 07/04/2008, -0/+9Or you know, like switch grass.
- jecruzs, on 07/04/2008, -0/+8ethanol
- sockpuppets, on 07/04/2008, -0/+7The joke's on you, I've started eating cars. Suckers!
- Jacare, on 07/04/2008, -0/+7don't forget that corn has a terrible yield in terms of ethanol production compared to sugarcane, so they need a whole lot more corn
- sockpuppets, on 07/04/2008, -0/+7Soylent Prius. The solution to every single problem facing the world today.™
- jrm71588, on 07/04/2008, -2/+9duuuuuuuuuh?
- Godlike, on 07/04/2008, -0/+7We had to go to war to stop the evil bastards in the textile industry last time. (slavery)
Rot in hell Anslinger. - Hangly, on 07/04/2008, -0/+7If by "terrible yield" you mean "negative yield."
The only way ethanol is remotely economical is through government corn subsidies. - TheInformer, on 07/04/2008, -0/+7Corn has one of the lowest amounts of sugar in it for ethanol production of any plant. Why do you think Brasil is using sugar cane? Better question: why can't we learn from other's mistakes and research and do it better?
- Travelsonic, on 07/04/2008, -0/+6Inaccurate title: The current crop for/method used to refine biofuels is inefficient. Look at Brazil/sugar cane ethanol.
- 0xbaadf00d, on 07/04/2008, -0/+6It's pretty ***** up. There was no demand for ethanol, so they artificially ***** with the supply by mandating that part of the corn crop must go to ethanol. Now the markets where there actually WAS a demand for corn have LESS supply!
- u8eR, on 07/04/2008, -4/+9Lets not pretend like there's not enough food in the world to feed to every person. There's no food shortage, only a surplus of greed and corruption. As far as the report goes, it's hard to see how increasing energy and transportation costs, burgeoning populations in Asia, and climatic calamities can only account for 25% of the food price increase that has been witnessed.
- inactive, on 07/04/2008, -0/+5Hemp and kudzu! 'nuff said...
- truck87bp, on 07/04/2008, -0/+5Whats to stop farmers from growing Hemp instead of Corn...damed if you do or don't. Not a good situation.
- Danoz, on 07/04/2008, -1/+6This headline is sensationalist. PLANT based biofuels is what the headline should say. Algae based biofuels cannot contribute to a food crisis. And i'm not going to blindly believe this article as the only links the article contains are to other guardian articles. I see no evidence whatsoever to support this idea. If prices have risen then it is more likely to do with rising oil costs and transport.
- metapop, on 07/04/2008, -3/+8corn ethanol for fuel = one of the dumbest ideas ever. electric cars are our future... i just hope this doesn't become a VHS/BETA scenario where the weaker technology wins.
- VitriolAndAngst, on 07/04/2008, -2/+6Utter *****.
First, it is Monsanto and Bush and big Farming that pushed ethanol. But beyond that, it doesn't use wheat that has been taken out by drought and rust and the rice that was destroyed at Myanmar. We actually had a slight surplus of corn last year. Oh, and you notice that the Mississippi is flooding?
Yes, SOME use of corn for ethanol (stop calling this biofuel -- it is food until they start using the husks), has made is scarce. That doesn't have a damn thing to do with environmentalism, the REAL alternative energy movement -- or anything else the ***** war profiteering bastards want to blame it on. It is the same groups that have been ripping us off all along, just finding the Sierra club a good target instead of Muslims. Same old crap, new venue.
So why the is there a shortage? The lack of value in the US dollar means that the world still needs to eat -- besides weapons, that's the USA's last good export. So the speculators have been dumping money into oil and commodities and THAT has driven up the price. Meanwhile, a lot of extra natural disasters have created a perfect storm. And so a lot of countries are clamping down on exports and hoarding more food than they otherwise would.
If some of these companies don't stop this speculation and ramping up the price -- we need to nationalize a few "important" resources. - dkeck14, on 07/04/2008, -0/+4Modern societies require a distribution of labor. I don't want computer scientists wasting their time dicking around in a garden. They should be thinking of ways to make their software better. Maybe they'll make a something that can help the professional farmer more effectively distribute their good, allowing the farmer to make their food cheaper. The cheaper food is, the more we can send to needy areas.
The farm subsidies program we have is incredibly corrupt, and has thoroughly distorted the corn market. Politicians will look for any reason to push through subsidies for farmers, and biofuels was a very convenient excuse. - m0neybags, on 07/04/2008, -0/+4This has been theorized about for at least the past year. People were talking about too much corn being made last year after there was the hops shortage.
- potatomasher, on 07/04/2008, -0/+4I believe its called "walking". You should go for a test drive...
- CodeCobalt, on 07/04/2008, -2/+6the cause? Not quite. Part of the problem? Yes.
Real culprit it useless speculation from people who talk out of their ass and the general public who buys into the gimmick, believing the speculation and further validating it.
Its the same with our fuel prices. if all of this speculation ended prices would fall. Would they go back to normal, probably not. would they be cheaper, oh hell yea. - Urzeitlich, on 07/04/2008, -4/+8But I NEED my Hummer to get my kid to soccer practice! You can't fit all of her equipment into some tin-can hybrid!
- gotamd, on 07/05/2008, -0/+3You must not buy your own food or you would have noticed that the price of food has gone up dramatically in the past year or so. How do you explain the price increase if it's not caused by diverting farmland use from food production or feed production to fuel production? Even if they're using it only for feeding animals, that makes it more expensive to raise and keep animals. That makes all animal products more expensive. That's happening as well, but the effect has spread throughout our entire food chain.
- ebcreasoner, on 07/04/2008, -0/+3You are a god now. I shall build an alter and let loose the dogs of war. Round balls of paper filled with magic will burst forth and the sky will feast on it's sky candy. And I shall call it 4th of July.
- chillypacman, on 07/04/2008, -1/+4I think the reason biofuels are so popular is because it's next most popular.
Truth is there are a lot of good alternatives, just not as profitable as biofuels. - SkittlesUSA, on 07/04/2008, -0/+3And these are the unintended consequences when the government tries to intervene in the market.
- Ricky81682, on 07/04/2008, -0/+3Congress admit a mistake? No, what they'll do is add a subsidy to consumers who purchase corn. Gotta spend, spend, spend to get those votes!
- brad3378, on 07/04/2008, -0/+3Washington D.C.
............but can we blame them?
Politicians are Lawyers not Engineers, Accountants, Scientists, or Economists.
Therefore they shouldn't be expected to understand what's going on.
Their job is to create conflicts and bad laws so their lawyer friends have job security. - VinceNoir, on 07/04/2008, -0/+3@ebcreasoner
Smithers: "Umm... sir. That's Independence Day".
ebcreasoner: "Oh damn". - WraTH017, on 07/04/2008, -0/+3One would think it's THE PRICE OF OIL driving up the cost of food.
When did the world start using biofuels on a large scale anyway? Because I seemed to have missed that. - Barackalypse, on 07/04/2008, -2/+5But but, the Digg green team said that Ethanol only accounts for 3% of the increased food prices.
http://digg.com/environment/USDA_Ethanol_Accounts_ ...
They also say that global warming exists. Fool me once, shame on me, fool me twice... - TwoKill, on 07/04/2008, -0/+3This isn't exactly a leaked report, I was learning about the connection like two quarters ago in economics.
- SpinningHead, on 07/04/2008, -1/+4Lobbyists....just like everything else.
- Gundemwing0, on 07/04/2008, -0/+2ok it will take food to make fuel and cause global hunger... And the bird goes tweet also just as a fyi.
- LadyAmerica, on 07/04/2008, -0/+2""Political leaders seem intent on suppressing and ignoring the strong evidence that biofuels are a major factor in recent food price rises," said Robert Bailey, policy adviser at Oxfam. "It is imperative that we have the full picture. ***While politicians concentrate on keeping industry lobbies happy, people in poor countries cannot afford enough to eat.***"
"**Rising food prices have pushed 100m people worldwide below the poverty line***, estimates the World Bank, and have sparked riots from Bangladesh to Egypt. ..."
More hungry/starving people due to biofuels ... thanks Gore, Pelosi, Reid, et al.
Poor folks starve, while global-warming-fearmongers benefit financially and/or politically. Soon, we'll all be starving - and in the dark - so these same fearmongering demagogic charlatans can profit. - ph1sh55, on 07/04/2008, -0/+2can we stop using our corn for high fructose corn syrup as well?
- comedianX, on 07/04/2008, -0/+2People Corn: they have ears.
- Ulisses, on 07/04/2008, -0/+2Corn Ethanol, thank you Iowa Caucuses.
- brad3378, on 07/04/2008, -0/+2I have a "beef" with your beef argument.
Not all beef is grown with harvested grains.
Many farmers let their cattle eat wild grass because it is free. -
Show 51 - 100 of 164 discussions
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