Skip to main content

Real cost of corn ethanol?

Have a look at this article by Ronald Cooke on the true costs associated with corn ethanol production.

In, "What Is the Real Cost of Corn Ethanol?", Cooke weighs the perceived benefits of corn ethanol use against the tally of its direct and indirect costs.

Will corn ethanol result in grain shortages and higher food prices? Does its production and use in automobiles result in a reduction of greenhouse gas emissions? Can we really reduce our reliance on foreign oil with this homegrown energy scheme?

Read the article and hear Cooke's arguments for yourself. While you're at it, keep in mind all the things we've been told about corn ethanol in advertisements and news media.

Consider the importance of the return on energy metrics laid out by Robert Rapier in his recent essay for the Oil Drum.

Especially keep in mind the following assertion made by ADM Chairman G. Allen Andreas in a May 2006 Reuters article:

"I think any knowledgeable person in today's world would recognize the fact that the reason we've got malnutrition and hunger is not because we're turning food into fuel," said ADM Chairman G. Allen Andreas in response to a question from an analyst on a conference call following the company's quarterly earnings report on Tuesday.

"We've got hundreds of millions of acres of land in Brazil that are suitable for arable development into farmland that still have not been cultivated without any infringement on the environment," Andreas added. "There's plenty of capacity to make food."

See, there are hundred of millions of acres of land in Brazil suitable for farmland development. All we have to is convert some more of that pesky jungle floor and savannah into soybean and corn fields.

Aren't you glad we have people like that directing energy policy in this country?

Popular posts from this blog

Moneyball: How the Red Sox Win Championships

Welcome, readers . T o get the first look at brand new posts (like the following piece) and to receive our exclusive email list updates, please subscribe to the Finance Trends Newsletter .   The Boston Red Sox won their fourth World Series title of t he 21st century this we ek. Having won their first Se ries in 86 years back in 200 4, the last decade-plus has marked a very strong return to form for one of baseball's oldest big league clubs. So how did they do it? Quick background: in late 2002, team own er and hedge fund manager, John W. Henry (with his partners ) bought the Boston Red Sox and its historic Fenway Park for a reported sum of $ 695 million. Henry and Co. quickly set out to find their ideal General Manager (GM) to help turn around their newly acquired, ailing ship. This brings us to one of my fav orite scenes from the 2011 film , Moneyball , in which John W. Henry (played by Ar liss Howard) attempts to woo Oakland A's GM Billy Beane (Brad Pi

William O'Neil Interview: How to Buy Winning Stocks

Investor's B usiness Daily founder and veteran stock trader, William O'Neil share d his trading methods and insights on buying winning stocks in an in-depth IBD radio interview. Here are some highlights from William O'Neil's interview with IBD: William O'Neil's interest in the stock market began when he started working as a young adult.  "I say many times that I didn't get that much out of college. I didn't have much interest in the stock market until I graduated from college. When I got married, I had to look out into the future and get more serious. The investment world had some appeal and that's when I started studying it. I became a stock broker after I got out of the Air Force."    He moved to Los Angeles and started work in a stock broker's office with twenty other guys. When their phone leads from ads didn't pan out, O'Neil would take the leads and drive down to visit the prospective customers in person.

New! Finance Trends now at FinanceTrendsLetter.com

Update for our readers: Finance Trends has a new URL!  Please bookmark our new web address at Financetrendsletter.com Readers sticking with RSS updates should point your feed readers to our new Finance Trends feedburner .   Thank you to all of our loyal readers who have been with us since the early days. Exciting stuff to come in the weeks ahead! As a quick reminder, you can subscribe to our free email list to receive the Finance Trends Newsletter . You'll receive email updates about once every 4-8 weeks (about 2-3 times per quarter).  Stay up to date with our real-time insights and updates on Twitter .