THE PROGRESSIVE CONSERVATIVE, USA
An Online Journal of Political Commentary & Analysis
Volume XII, Issue # 33, February 21, 2010
Dr. Almon Leroy Way, Jr., Editor
Government Committed to & Acting in Accord with Conservative Principles
Ensures a Nation's Strength, Progress, & Prosperity
ANOTHER FAILING BIOFUEL "MIRACLE"
By Dennis T. Avery
U.S. ENERGY POLICY RELATING TO RENEWABLE FUELS: THE IMPACT OF BIOFUEL MANDATES UPON THE AMERICAN
ECONOMY -- THE DESTRUCTIVE CONSEQUENCES OF USING SCARCE LAND TO GROW CROPS FROM WHICH BIOFUELS ARE
DERIVED
FULL STORY:
My wife is complaining about our increased costs at the supermarket. I remind her that every pound of meat, milk, and
butter we buy requires several pounds of corn to produce — and biofuel mandates have shoved the corn price up from
about $ 2 per bushel to $3.60. Many hog producers, dairymen, and egg farms have gone bust due to the inevitably higher
cost of feed for livestock.
The higher food costs come on top of the already-higher prices we pay at the pump for the lower-energy ethanol being
mixed with our gasoline.
Now, comes word of another failing biofuel “miracle.” Thousands of farmers in the developing world were told that biofuel
from an oily tree fruit, jatropha, could be grown on marginal land. Thus, it could produce massive amounts of renewable
fuels without competing with food crops.
Now, it turns out the experts were wrong about jatropha growing well on marginal land. Jatropha will grow on marginal
land, but it needs good land to produce economically viable yields. Indian farmers, for example, find the forecast yields of
2 to 5 tons per hectare are actually less than 2 tons.
Meanwhile, millions of jatropha trees are being grown instead of food on farms from Ghana and Guatemala to Mozambique
and India. European Union companies have reportedly leased 5 million hectares of land for biofuel production, much of it
in Africa, where it will compete with already-inadequate food production and threaten unique wildlife.
Major question: In the name of all that is environmentally holy, why are we trying to grow fuel crops on “marginal land”?
Marginal land is where the world’s wild species live. There isn’t any “spare” land anywhere in the world.
Fuel crops are a fundamentally bad idea because we get so little fuel per acre. The U.S.A. burns 135 billion gallons worth
of gasoline per year, and corn produces about 90 gallons worth of gasoline-equivalent per acre per year. How many million
acres of corn ethanol would it take to make a significant difference in our “energy independence”?
We’re already farming 37 percent of the earth’s land area, and, unless research doubles per-acre food yields again, we’ll
need to clear another 30 to 50 percent of the earth’s land surface just to feed ourselves in 2050. Count on at least 8 billion
people, with at least 7 billion of them affluent enough to demand meat, milk, and pet food.
Europe is making biodiesel out of its rapeseed crop — but also importing lots of palm oil from Indonesia. There, thousands
of Great Apes (orangutans) are being slaughtered to make room for the palm seedlings. This is conservation?
Ironically, some of the farmers who have planted jatropha are finding no one wants to buy it because the costs of refining
and distribution are too high. The oil giant BP, for example, has pulled out of a planned $50 million jatropha joint venture in
Africa. A BP spokesman said:
“As other technologies came up, we looked again
at whether jatropha was going to be the best
biofuel source that could be scaled up. We have
decided to look elsewhere.”
Thus far, no alternative energy source works well. Nuclear power seems to be the best hope, and the Obama administration
is finally adjusting to that reality. Even inadequate, erratic sources such as solar panels and wind turbines are less
destructive to conservation than using scarce land for biofuels.
LINKS TO RELATED TOPICS:
Political Environmentalism Versus Human Progress & Prosperity:
Policy Issues Relating to Energy, Environment,
& Natural Resources
Political Economy -- Philosophies, Systems, & Public Policies:
Government, the Economy, & Economic Prosperity
Dennis T. Avery is a senior fellow for the Hudson Institute in Washington, D.C. He is an environmental economist and was
formerly a senior analyst for the U.S. Department of State. He is co-author, with S. Fred Singer, of Unstoppable Global
Warming Every 1500 Hundred Years.
Readers may write him at PO Box 202, Churchville, Virginia, 24421 or send email to him at cgfi@hughes.net
Return to Top of Page
Go to the WEBSITE INDEX
Return to Beginning of
THE PROGRESSIVE CONSERVATIVE, USA,
Public Issues & Political Controversies
Return to Beginning of
THE PROGRESSIVE CONSERVATIVE, USA
Most Recent Articles
Return to Beginning of
THE PROGRESSIVE CONSERVATIVE, USA,
Volume XII, 2010
Return to Beginning of
THE PROGRESSIVE CONSERVATIVE, USA,
Subject Matter Highlights
Return to POLITICAL EDUCATION Homepage
CONTACT & ACCESS INFORMATION
This is not a commercial website. The sole purpose of the website is to share with interested persons information regarding civics,
civic and social education, political science, government, politics, law, constitutional law and history, public policy, and political
philosophy and history, as well as current and recent political developments, public issues, and political controversies.
POLITICAL EDUCATION, CONSERVATIVE ANALYSIS
POLITICS, SOCIETY, & THE SOVEREIGN STATE
Website of Dr. Almon Leroy Way, Jr.
Government, Politics, Public Policy, Legal Issues, Constitutional Law, Government & the Economy, Cultural Values, Foreign Affairs,
International Relations, Military Defense & National Security, Geopolitics, Terrorism & Homeland Security, American National Interests,
Political Systems & Processes, Political Institutions, Political Ideologies, & Political Philosophy
INDEX FOR THE ENTIRE WEBSITE
A
B
C
D
E
F
G
H
I
J
K
L
M
N
O
P
Q
R
S
T
U
V
W
X
Y
Z
THE PROGRESSIVE CONSERVATIVE, USA
An Online Journal of Political Commentary & Analysis
Dr. Almon Leroy Way, Jr., Editor
Conservative & Free-Market Analysis of Government, Politics & Public Policy, Covering Political, Legal, Constitutional, Economic,
Cultural, Military, International, Strategic, & Geopolitical Issues
Conservative Government Ensures a Nation's Strength, Progress, & Prosperity