Comments on: Devils in details: State of the Union http://priceofoil.org/2007/01/24/devils-in-details-state-of-the-union/ Oil Change International campaigns to expose the true costs of oil and facilitate the coming transition towards clean energy. We are dedicated to identifying and overcoming political barriers to that transition. Thu, 20 Nov 2008 10:59:38 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.5 By: Kisil http://priceofoil.org/2007/01/24/devils-in-details-state-of-the-union/#comment-11471 Kisil Thu, 25 Jan 2007 00:53:43 +0000 http://priceofoil.org/2007/01/24/devils-in-details-state-of-the-union/#comment-11471 And by 2003 I mean 2004. And by 2003 I mean 2004.

]]> By: Kisil http://priceofoil.org/2007/01/24/devils-in-details-state-of-the-union/#comment-11470 Kisil Thu, 25 Jan 2007 00:51:42 +0000 http://priceofoil.org/2007/01/24/devils-in-details-state-of-the-union/#comment-11470 Here's an additional detail I don't think gets enough attention. Corn ethanol is economical now only because of government corn subsidies. Switchgrass, among other crops, is much more efficient and more sustainable, but gets very little federal attention, since the infrastructure and advocacy for massive, subsidized corn production is already in place. If we want to take ethanol seriously as an alternative fuel, we need to move beyond corn and invest in crops and infrastructure that make thermodynamic sense. Let's not forget that oil companies are not the only special interest at work here. (For an interesting, if alarmist, discussion of energy in American farming, check out "The Oil We Eat," by Richard Manning, Harpers Feb. 2003. http://www.harpers.org/TheOilWeEat.html ) Here’s an additional detail I don’t think gets enough attention. Corn ethanol is economical now only because of government corn subsidies. Switchgrass, among other crops, is much more efficient and more sustainable, but gets very little federal attention, since the infrastructure and advocacy for massive, subsidized corn production is already in place. If we want to take ethanol seriously as an alternative fuel, we need to move beyond corn and invest in crops and infrastructure that make thermodynamic sense.

Let’s not forget that oil companies are not the only special interest at work here.

(For an interesting, if alarmist, discussion of energy in American farming, check out “The Oil We Eat,” by Richard Manning, Harpers Feb. 2003. http://www.harpers.org/TheOilWeEat.html )

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