Often while traveling I run into other salesmen that I have met through the years. It is interesting how we often end up in the same places. The cattle industry is worldwide and yet fairly small in the number of people that are involved in it. Those companies that serve the cattle industry are few. Anywhere that cattle are concentrated, you tend to run into the same people. The advantage is that you occasionally have company for dinner that otherwise would be eaten alone.
Tonight I was visiting with an acquaintance from Colorado who happened to be eating in the same place that I was. We talked about all of the wind generation fields that are going in throughout the plains. For both of us it seemed that no matter where we travelled, we saw wind generators being installed. We both agreed that it was a good thing. We also were both in agreement that there are a lot of ethanol plants being built and they are not necessarily a good thing.
I think biofuel plants should be limited to converting human waste and garbage to fuel. They should not be converting plant mass to fuel. Ethanol production is a losing proposition for the taxpayers of this country. Converting crop acres to corn production that will be used for ethanol only drives up food prices. It is not an efficient use of our land resources. Ethanol production continues to be subsidized. It should not be. Spend the subsidies to develop technologies for converting garbage and human waste to fuel. Spend the subsidies to develop efficient solar and wind technologies. Lets develop nuclear fuel generation plants and fuel cells. Quit wasting our tax money on ethanol. It doesn't really help us.
Showing posts with label biofuels. Show all posts
Showing posts with label biofuels. Show all posts
Monday, July 30, 2007
Monday, July 16, 2007
Ice Cream and Ethanol
OK ice cream lovers. It's time to rebel!!!
Ice-cream makers frozen out as corn price rises
From The Times
July 16, 2007
Suzy Jagger and Carl Mortished
What’s the connection between ethanol, the biofuel produced from corn, and a cherry vanilla ice-cream?
Answer: the first is responsible for pushing up the price of the other.
This month, the price of milk in the United States surged to a near-record in part because of the increasing costs of feeding a dairy herd. The corn feed used to feed cattle has almost doubled in price in a year as demand has grown for the grain to produce ethanol.
Christina Seid, whose family have been making ice-cream at the Chinatown Ice Cream Factory for 28 years, said yesterday that she expected to have to raise her prices, along with all competitors in the short term. “We are holding out as long as we can, but prices will rise,” Ms Seid said.
Amy Green’s Ivanna Cone ice-cream emporium in Lincoln, Nebraska, has already raised its prices for a small cone to $3.50 before tax, up from $2.95 a few months ago. She also estimates that she is paying $150 more a week for the butterfat that she uses in her ice-cream.
The squeeze on ice-cream makers, chocolate manufacturers and pizza companies – all of whom use dairy produce as a raw material – is set to tighten as the price of a gallon of milk in the US – up 55 per cent in the past 12 months in some American states – is now the same as a gallon of petrol, with dairy prices accelerating faster than the cost of fuel.
Prices for dairy products have also risen because of increasing demand from China and the Middle East along with the drought in Australia, reduced subsidies in the European Union and the rocketing cost of corn.
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I don't know about you, but I think that when the ethanol boondoggle starts affecting the price of ice cream they've gone too far!!
Ice-cream makers frozen out as corn price rises
From The Times
July 16, 2007
Suzy Jagger and Carl Mortished
What’s the connection between ethanol, the biofuel produced from corn, and a cherry vanilla ice-cream?
Answer: the first is responsible for pushing up the price of the other.
This month, the price of milk in the United States surged to a near-record in part because of the increasing costs of feeding a dairy herd. The corn feed used to feed cattle has almost doubled in price in a year as demand has grown for the grain to produce ethanol.
Christina Seid, whose family have been making ice-cream at the Chinatown Ice Cream Factory for 28 years, said yesterday that she expected to have to raise her prices, along with all competitors in the short term. “We are holding out as long as we can, but prices will rise,” Ms Seid said.
Amy Green’s Ivanna Cone ice-cream emporium in Lincoln, Nebraska, has already raised its prices for a small cone to $3.50 before tax, up from $2.95 a few months ago. She also estimates that she is paying $150 more a week for the butterfat that she uses in her ice-cream.
The squeeze on ice-cream makers, chocolate manufacturers and pizza companies – all of whom use dairy produce as a raw material – is set to tighten as the price of a gallon of milk in the US – up 55 per cent in the past 12 months in some American states – is now the same as a gallon of petrol, with dairy prices accelerating faster than the cost of fuel.
Prices for dairy products have also risen because of increasing demand from China and the Middle East along with the drought in Australia, reduced subsidies in the European Union and the rocketing cost of corn.
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I don't know about you, but I think that when the ethanol boondoggle starts affecting the price of ice cream they've gone too far!!
Tuesday, June 12, 2007
Energy vs. Food
This is a glimpse of the future...
China blocks food for biofuel
By George Reynolds
12/06/2007 - Chinese biofuel producers should only use non-food crops, the government said yesterday, following fears of shortages and further price rises that could occur as demand for greener energy increases.Biofuels are seen as a potential alternative to fossil fuels, because they can be manufactured from sustainable crops including corn, wheat, sugar, cassava, sweet sorghum, and oilseeds.The moratorium will ease manufacturing concerns about competing for ingredients being used to make ethanol and biodiesel. Corn is currently accounts for 90 per cent of the inputs in Chinese ethanol manufacture, and has sharply risen in price over the past few years due to subsidies and high crude oil prices.Moreover, last year's 43 per cent rise in the price of pork, China's principal meat, due to increasing feed costs, has pushed officials to act."Food-based ethanol fuel will not be the direction for China," said Xu Dingming, an official of the National Energy Leading Group, at a energy seminar held this week, according to the Xinhua News Agency.Biofuel manufacturers will now need to source non-food crops, such as cassava and sweet sorghum used ....(follow the link for complete article)
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Ethanol and biodiesel will have a dramatic impact on food prices in this country over the next few years. I have posted some of my thoughts on this in the past. Fuel independence may create food dependence if we continue to focus those efforts on biofuels. Are we as a country willing to become dependent on South America for our grains? That may not be an issue if Brazil continues with its efforts to produce ethanol. We are heading for a global food crisis. U.S. citizens will pay a higher percentage of their disposable income for food than ever in the history of this country. What will the impact be on countries that suffer from chronic food shortages today?
There have been numerous issues to criticize the current administration and Congress over. I think the subsidies to encourage biofuels may be the biggest one. The money spent subsidizing ethanol would be better spent on nuclear, wind, or solar power generation. Biofuel money should be restricted to garbage and human waste. Subsidizing the use of crops for biofuels is an error in judgment that will have huge impact on our food supplies in a very short time. That impact is in fact already occurring although there is a significant lag before it will be felt in the consumer marketplace. The sad thing is, it will not lower gasoline prices and may contribute to their rise due to legislating blends both at the Federal and State levels. This, at the same time that it is raising food prices.
The first impact that will be felt is in the cost of proteins. This includes all meats and beans. The impact to grain-based foods will be more slowly realized. This seems backward at first glance. However, due to the small impact of "in-the-field" prices for grains on the cost of a finished loaf of bread, the impact will be minimal in spite of significant grain price increases. However, the cost of feeding livestock has increased tremendously based on the speculative impact of corn conversion to ethanol. There has also been secondary impact on the price of feed fat which is a rendered energy source similar to lard that is a component of many animal feeds -- such as pet foods. This is because of the utilization of tallow for biodiesel production. Just get ready. The price of your hamburger is about to double. It will only take about 6 -9 months for the initial impact to begin to filter through the production cycle.
The potential impact of significantly higher food prices could quickly spread to the housing market. Families will have less disposable income. Foreclosures may become as common as they were in the 80's at the height of the S&L crisis. Prices will plummet. The housing bubble will burst. The impact will then ripple through the financial sectors potentially causing bank failures.
OK. I guess that's a bit of a gloom-and-doom view, but it is also realistic. Cheap and abundant food has been a significant component of the economic success of this country. Current alternative energy policies are threatening our future food supply. Congress and the President need to think again about how we achieve energy independence.
China blocks food for biofuel
By George Reynolds
12/06/2007 - Chinese biofuel producers should only use non-food crops, the government said yesterday, following fears of shortages and further price rises that could occur as demand for greener energy increases.Biofuels are seen as a potential alternative to fossil fuels, because they can be manufactured from sustainable crops including corn, wheat, sugar, cassava, sweet sorghum, and oilseeds.The moratorium will ease manufacturing concerns about competing for ingredients being used to make ethanol and biodiesel. Corn is currently accounts for 90 per cent of the inputs in Chinese ethanol manufacture, and has sharply risen in price over the past few years due to subsidies and high crude oil prices.Moreover, last year's 43 per cent rise in the price of pork, China's principal meat, due to increasing feed costs, has pushed officials to act."Food-based ethanol fuel will not be the direction for China," said Xu Dingming, an official of the National Energy Leading Group, at a energy seminar held this week, according to the Xinhua News Agency.Biofuel manufacturers will now need to source non-food crops, such as cassava and sweet sorghum used ....(follow the link for complete article)
______________________________________
Ethanol and biodiesel will have a dramatic impact on food prices in this country over the next few years. I have posted some of my thoughts on this in the past. Fuel independence may create food dependence if we continue to focus those efforts on biofuels. Are we as a country willing to become dependent on South America for our grains? That may not be an issue if Brazil continues with its efforts to produce ethanol. We are heading for a global food crisis. U.S. citizens will pay a higher percentage of their disposable income for food than ever in the history of this country. What will the impact be on countries that suffer from chronic food shortages today?
There have been numerous issues to criticize the current administration and Congress over. I think the subsidies to encourage biofuels may be the biggest one. The money spent subsidizing ethanol would be better spent on nuclear, wind, or solar power generation. Biofuel money should be restricted to garbage and human waste. Subsidizing the use of crops for biofuels is an error in judgment that will have huge impact on our food supplies in a very short time. That impact is in fact already occurring although there is a significant lag before it will be felt in the consumer marketplace. The sad thing is, it will not lower gasoline prices and may contribute to their rise due to legislating blends both at the Federal and State levels. This, at the same time that it is raising food prices.
The first impact that will be felt is in the cost of proteins. This includes all meats and beans. The impact to grain-based foods will be more slowly realized. This seems backward at first glance. However, due to the small impact of "in-the-field" prices for grains on the cost of a finished loaf of bread, the impact will be minimal in spite of significant grain price increases. However, the cost of feeding livestock has increased tremendously based on the speculative impact of corn conversion to ethanol. There has also been secondary impact on the price of feed fat which is a rendered energy source similar to lard that is a component of many animal feeds -- such as pet foods. This is because of the utilization of tallow for biodiesel production. Just get ready. The price of your hamburger is about to double. It will only take about 6 -9 months for the initial impact to begin to filter through the production cycle.
The potential impact of significantly higher food prices could quickly spread to the housing market. Families will have less disposable income. Foreclosures may become as common as they were in the 80's at the height of the S&L crisis. Prices will plummet. The housing bubble will burst. The impact will then ripple through the financial sectors potentially causing bank failures.
OK. I guess that's a bit of a gloom-and-doom view, but it is also realistic. Cheap and abundant food has been a significant component of the economic success of this country. Current alternative energy policies are threatening our future food supply. Congress and the President need to think again about how we achieve energy independence.
Thursday, April 19, 2007
Robots and Ethanol
I thought this to be an interesting article on Ethanol. The ARS is searching for ways to make ethanol production more efficient. They need to.....
Robot, Yeast Combo May Mean More Ethanol
Scientists with the Agricultural Research Service (ARS) in Peoria, Ill., are excited about the latest member to join their team: a one-armed robot. They expect it to speed studies aimed at harnessing the power of proteins for industrial uses, such as making fuel ethanol from fibrous corn stover. The robot is the centerpiece of an automated system called the "plasmid-based functional proteomics work cell." According to Stephen Hughes, a molecular biologist with the ARS National Center for Agricultural Utilization Research in Peoria, the system is the first of its kind to fully automate several procedures that have traditionally been carried out by hand--human hand, that is. A short list of functions includes extracting genetic material from the cells of plants, microbes and other organisms; making DNA copies of genes; inserting the copies into Escherichia coli; culturing these bacteria so that the copies can be sequenced and their proteins identified; and inserting desirable genes into yeasts used to make ethanol. Thanks to the fast, precise movements of its mechanized arm, the robotic system can carry out such tasks hundreds--or even thousands--of times faster than a human could, notes Hughes. He and colleagues in the ARS center's Bioproducts and Biocatalysis Research Unit codeveloped the system with a team from Hudson Control Group of Springfield, N.J., starting in 2004. Of particular interest is using the robotic system to genetically modify new strains of Saccharomyces yeast that can metabolize sugars locked up within corn fiber--something these microbial workhorses have so far failed to do. Currently, only the starch from corn and other grain crops is being converted commercially into the sugars from which ethanol is derived. With the Saccharomyces yeasts now used, this equates to nearly three gallons of ethanol from a bushel of corn. Using new strains capable of breaking down corn fiber could potentially squeeze 10 percent more ethanol from the grain, Hughes and colleagues estimate. Read more about this and other ARS bioenergy research in the April 2007 issue of Agricultural Research magazine, available online at: http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/AR/archive/apr07/robot0407.htm ARS is the U.S. Department of Agriculture's chief scientific research agency.
Source: Jan Suszkiw, ARS News Service
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I think there is definitely a place for ethanol in the alternative fuels debate. I would just like to see it made from recycling scrap organics, or from fibrous plant residues that can be harvested from marginally productive land rather than from corn. Until the switch occurs, the negative impact to food prices, and the inefficient ethanol production methods will cost the consumers more than the benefits.
Robot, Yeast Combo May Mean More Ethanol
Scientists with the Agricultural Research Service (ARS) in Peoria, Ill., are excited about the latest member to join their team: a one-armed robot. They expect it to speed studies aimed at harnessing the power of proteins for industrial uses, such as making fuel ethanol from fibrous corn stover. The robot is the centerpiece of an automated system called the "plasmid-based functional proteomics work cell." According to Stephen Hughes, a molecular biologist with the ARS National Center for Agricultural Utilization Research in Peoria, the system is the first of its kind to fully automate several procedures that have traditionally been carried out by hand--human hand, that is. A short list of functions includes extracting genetic material from the cells of plants, microbes and other organisms; making DNA copies of genes; inserting the copies into Escherichia coli; culturing these bacteria so that the copies can be sequenced and their proteins identified; and inserting desirable genes into yeasts used to make ethanol. Thanks to the fast, precise movements of its mechanized arm, the robotic system can carry out such tasks hundreds--or even thousands--of times faster than a human could, notes Hughes. He and colleagues in the ARS center's Bioproducts and Biocatalysis Research Unit codeveloped the system with a team from Hudson Control Group of Springfield, N.J., starting in 2004. Of particular interest is using the robotic system to genetically modify new strains of Saccharomyces yeast that can metabolize sugars locked up within corn fiber--something these microbial workhorses have so far failed to do. Currently, only the starch from corn and other grain crops is being converted commercially into the sugars from which ethanol is derived. With the Saccharomyces yeasts now used, this equates to nearly three gallons of ethanol from a bushel of corn. Using new strains capable of breaking down corn fiber could potentially squeeze 10 percent more ethanol from the grain, Hughes and colleagues estimate. Read more about this and other ARS bioenergy research in the April 2007 issue of Agricultural Research magazine, available online at: http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/AR/archive/apr07/robot0407.htm ARS is the U.S. Department of Agriculture's chief scientific research agency.
Source: Jan Suszkiw, ARS News Service
______________________________________________________
I think there is definitely a place for ethanol in the alternative fuels debate. I would just like to see it made from recycling scrap organics, or from fibrous plant residues that can be harvested from marginally productive land rather than from corn. Until the switch occurs, the negative impact to food prices, and the inefficient ethanol production methods will cost the consumers more than the benefits.
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