The Oil Drum

A few days ago, someone here posted a link to a story about skyrocketing farmland prices in the Midwest. It really made me angry to think about the inflationary chain reaction and the vicious chain of events our politicians have set into motion with these ethanol mandates. It made me even angrier to think that the few who benefit from these policies defend their right to siphon money from the rest of us and into their pockets. (I will be the first to say that surging energy prices are a big component of surging inflation, but with the ethanol mandates we are throwing jet fuel on an already raging fire).

This all started out innocently enough. Oil prices were climbing. Our energy production was shifting to an ever greater extent to countries that are hostile to the U.S.

So, Step 1 in the chain is to propose a solution:

1. The government should subsidize ethanol production to encourage production of home-grown fuels, which will enhance energy security and create jobs in the Midwest.

Bob Dinneen, President & CEO of the Renewable Fuels Association (the same association that claims displacement of 170 million barrels of oil with 64 million BOEs of ethanol) wrote to Rolling Stone to complain about Jeff Goodell's recent critical piece on ethanol:

Letter To The Editor: Response to "The Ethanol Scam"

In the letter, Dinneen took a shot at me, writing "As is to be expected, Mr. Goodell relied on the figures of an energy blogger for his facts." Goodell defended me in his response to Dinneen:

Request for Info on Ethanol Incentives and Biomass Sources

I need some help gathering information. I know that some of you will be quite knowledgeable about certain aspects of what I am looking for. I was in London this weekend (found myself standing next to Jesse Jackson at one point) having a look at a promising cellulosic ethanol technology. I will not go into details, because they don’t want to release details yet, but they have asked for my assistance in developing a business plan and helping work through technical hurdles.

This is not the first time I have been asked to do something like this. It probably isn’t even the 100th. But there have only ever been 2 or 3 that I saw and thought “This could be something.” And this could in fact be something. It is a unique approach to the cellulosic ethanol problem – and I have no doubt that this technology will handily beat the economics and energy returns of the current cellulosic plants being built. And this isn't just a sketch on paper. They are deep into R&D on this thing.