Energy versus food

King corn has dethroned king coal as a prime mover in US politics. The result is that there is no sensible policy on ethanol, which has suddenly become everybody's favourite short-cut to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases and America's addiction to imported oil. In fact, ethanol's properties are exaggerated and the consequences of the rush to ethanol production underestimated. Not only is it boosting demand for scarce farmland, it is also increasing the ... Full Story »

Posted by Kaizar Campwala

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Review

John Palmer
4.4
by John Palmer - Oct. 1, 2008

For a publication Named Financial Times, to use P.C buzzwords when financial comparisons are more effective for the same argument ... (Noting that energy use to make Ethanol comes from oil or coal should have simply noted that it negated much, if not most or even all, of the energy production benefits)( the two most cited studies take opposing viewpoints, and both are flawed) The whole premise should have been stated in terms of energy cost (in both joules and $) to yields. It is what I would expect from a financial paper, but as that was not the viewpoint, it was not the story angle. The facts got there, but pretty weak as an argument instead of moderately solid as it could have been.

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