Ethanol | AEIdeas

Friday, May 24, 2013

Quotations of the day on ethanol. What’s to like? Absolutely nothing, unless you’re a rent-seeking corn farmer

Mark J. Perry | April 12, 2013, 10:41 pm

1. Ken Green (2008): “Contrary to popular belief, ethanol fuel will do little or nothing to increase our energy security or stabilize fuel prices. Instead, it will increase greenhouse gas emissions, local air pollutant emissions, fresh water scarcity, water pollution … read more >

Carpe Diem

Shale oil and gas have actually done a better job of addressing the concerns that led to biofuel mandates in the first place

Mark J. Perry | March 31, 2013, 1:18 pm

In a recent document from the Congressional Research Service, “Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS): Overview and Issues,” the authors provide three reasons for the 2005 and 2007 biofuel mandates: 1) concerns over increasing dependence on foreign sources of crude oil, 2) … read more >

Carpe Diem

Obama’s not about to end ‘green corporate welfare’

Mark J. Perry | March 7, 2013, 2:17 pm

Tim Carney writes in today’s Washington Examiner about President Obama’s recent appointees to head the Department of Energy (Ernest Moniz) and the Environmental Protection Agency (Gina McCarthy): Although Obama regularly talks about ending “corporate welfare,” battling the “special interests” and creating a “level … read more >

Carpe Diem

2013 International Auto Show: Fewer politician-pleasing green concepts and more consumer-pleasing must-haves.

Mark J. Perry | January 27, 2013, 11:42 pm

Detroit News political cartoonist and editorial writer Henry Payne reporting in Saturday’s WSJ from the 2013 North American International Auto Show in Detroit, which ended today (Sunday): From sport utes to sports cars to soccer-mom vans, every industry segment is thriving—with … read more >

Carpe Diem

More on the lunacy of turning corn into demon ethanol

Mark J. Perry | January 18, 2013, 6:08 pm

From Robert Bryce, senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute, writing in Slate last summer: You don’t have to be an economist to understand why the ethanol sector is driving food prices higher. This year, about 4.3 billion bushels of corn … read more >

Carpe Diem

Video: On the lunacy of the failed Renewable Fuel Standards

Mark J. Perry | January 18, 2013, 10:56 am

In the video above, the SmarterFuelFuture.org explains why the Renewable Fuel Standard, which mandated the use of of biofuels starting in 2007, has not only failed to achieve its stated goals over the last seven years, but has raised food … read more >

Carpe Diem

What’s to like about ethanol? It can ruin car engines, it’s bad for the environment, and it raises taxes, gas and food prices

Mark J. Perry | January 16, 2013, 5:41 pm

Except for a small minority of corn growers and ethanol producers, corn ethanol is a bad deal for everybody else: it damages automobile engines and fuel systems, it’s bad for the environment, it requires billions of dollars extracted from US … read more >

Image Credit: Fishhawk (Flickr) (CC BY 2.0)

Economics, Energy and the Environment

The ethanol madness continues

Kenneth P. Green | November 16, 2012, 1:13 pm

The fuel-ethanol saga must rank at or near the top for examples of well-intended policy run amok, wherein a policy is enacted that winds up causing harm to the very thing it was supposed to protect. read more >

Economics, Energy and the Environment

The ethanol insanity continues

Kenneth P. Green | August 1, 2012, 3:59 pm

Over at Slate, energy scholar Robert Bryce points out the insanity of continuing to mandate that ethanol from corn be blended into America’s gasoline supply: By dramatically increasing the volume of ethanol that must be blended into our gasoline supplies, … read more >

Economics, Energy and the Environment

Energy fact of the week: Peak ethanol?

Steven F. Hayward | June 12, 2012, 2:08 pm

A few weeks ago, we noted here the sharp decline in biodiesel production during a one-year hiatus in the blending tax credit—more evidence of how biofuel production is dependent on government subsidies to grow. The Wall Street Journal reports today … read more >