Temperate latitude ethanol is not only stupid, it's contributing to the energy pain being experienced by Europe's poorer citizens by being partly responsible for big rises in food prices. Higher food costs effectively lower the threshold when one enters the 'fuel poverty zone'. We might say that the 'dash for ethanol' has contributed to Europe's fuel riots.

I can partly understand the dilema that politicians face - we only have to look in today's P&J letters column to see demands for a 'modern transport system' which, unsurprisingly the correspondent defines by yet 3 more major road schemes! Any sympathy I had for politicians however is fast evaporating due to their abject failure to communicate the seriousness of the EU energy situation. A large majority on this forum clearly see the need for urgent and dramatic policy changes and I suspect many others would to....if only the politicians and MSM would start to do their job and properly inform people that we cannot possibly continue on the present course.

I personally find it appalling that various (completely unpaid) individuals on this forum can come up with such comprehensive analysis and action plans and yet EU and Gov't officials with multi-billion dollar budgets (paid for by us!) either come up with nothing at all or what amounts to dangerous complacency and nonsense. It's also not hard to imagine that when things go badly wrong (which they will, and soon) most of these key officials will simply leave and take gold-plated pensions (again which we've paid for) and leave others to sort out the mess.

On a more positive note I'm seeing that 'energy depletion' and 'peak oil' are showing up more and more in the online comments sections of press articles including the Daily Mail and Daily Express - it thus appears some are getting the message despite lack of political leadership. We write to our MP's and councillors but, so far, it's not achieved much. The oil price, however, is doing more than anything to spread the word. When shortages start to appear the whole subject of energy will ramp up yet further and just maybe will force politicians to take action but by then, of course, it will be very late in the day.