The editorial, “Biofuels meet doubt,” (O&GJ September 24, 2007) tells us that the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development’s Round Table on Sustainable Development views the rush to biofuels as environmentally and economically unsustainable (OGJ, Sept. 24, 2007, p. 17). This becomes increasingly clear as the domestic production of ethanol rises, and there is a corresponding increase in the price of corn-based products. The diversion of foodstuffs into automotive fuels is, in effect, a regressive tax and a simple misallocation of national agricultural resources.
Moreover, government should stop subsidizing the production of ethanol. Energy prices have increased to the point where the 51¢/gal subsidy, which may have appeared justified at one time, is no longer tenable. Subsidies should never be viewed as largess in perpetuity, and Congress should discontinue its unwarranted subsidy of ethanol production. Can you imagine the public furor that would arise if government were to extend the same $21.42/bbl subsidy to domestic oil producers? Would that the oil industry had the same clout in Washington that agricultural lobbyists have!
In August 2005, Congress passed legislation calling for ethanol production to be increased by 2012 to 7.5 billion gal/year, up from 4 billion gal/year at that time. With increasing gasoline prices and governmental incentives, it appears that this objective will be attained well before 2012. This level of ethanol production will cost taxpayers nearly $4 billion/year in subsidies, and the cost of corn-based food products will rise accordingly. It is generally agreed among those who have studied the issue that ethanol will not make economic or environmental sense until it is possible to produce it from cellulose and not corn.
Proponents of increasing ethanol production speak glowingly of moving toward energy independence. This is unrealistic when it is recognized that even at the 7.5-billion gal/year production level, ethanol will amount to less than 4% of current US petroleum imports. More to the point, this does not factor in the energy required to produce a gallon of ethanol, which is nearly equal to (if not more than) the energy that can be derived from that gallon of ethanol.
Increasing ethanol production is no palliative to the developing energy crisis; rather, it is a growing burden on the nation’s economy. It would be far wiser to accelerate the application of higher corporate average fuel efficiency standards and increase vehicular mileage, thereby making a meaningful start in reducing our reliance on petroleum imports.
Thomas S. Wyman
Palo Alto, Calif.