Biofuels

Food or Fuel? 

1. 

PRO	CONS
-sustainable alternative to fossil fuels	-fewer crops available for food
-reduced green house gas emissions	-world wide prices increase (50%),
-renewability	-affect the poor around the world
-energy independence	-37 countries may be facing food security
	-food riots in countries such as Haiti and Egypt
	-increase in aggregate fertilizer use leads to poor water quality, nutrient runoff and Erosion.

2. Do you think the pros outweigh the cons of using “food for fuel”?  Why or why not?

The pros most certainly do not outweigh the cons in this situation, unfortunately. Although the new ideas seem to be great for the environment in some aspects, it is hurting it in other ways. There is already a food shortage in most countries and by using food to create fuels means taking away even more food from those in need. With our growing world, it is becoming more difficult for people to produce enough food to feed everyone. Although this plan doesn’t really seem to work out, I believe that finding a new source of fuel is necessary for our world. 

The EU calls time on first-generation biofuels

1.      What is the E.U. proposing to do regarding “first-generation” biofuels?  Why?

Basically, they are trying to put a limit on the amount of biofuels that Europe uses. They want to cap it because they feel like “some of the biofuels are as bad as, or even worse than the fossil fuels that they replace”.

2. Why are biofuel proponents upset?  Are environmentalists upset too? 

 Biofuel proponents are upset because they think it’s sending the wrong message saying that the policy shows no policy coherence or predictability. In addition, there is now uncertainty of who is paying for the fuels because the first generation providers are out of the picture. 
Environmentalists are also upset because they feel that the EU missed a good chanced to fix mistakes from the past by admitting mistakes of the original first-generation fuels.

3. "Second-generation" biofuels 

Second-generation biofuels use the inedible parts of plants for energy. This way there isn’t any competition with getting food to people and using it for machinery.

Ethanol Fading? 

1. Why are times so gloomy for ethanol producers?

The droughts have been killing most of the crops, increasing the cost of the products, causining many ethanol plants to shut down. There are many barrels of ethanol just sitting in storage because there isn’t enough gasoline to mix it with. In addition to this, the value of ethanol has decreased because the gasoline prices aren’t too bad right now.

2. How is the ethanol plant in Macon, Missouri (owned by POET) changing to confront the changes in the ethanol market?

The plant in Macon is undergoing $13 Million in renovations, in hopes that it will make the plant more efficient and cost effective. With new technology, construction and ideas, the plant hopes to turn things around by producing an extra three-tenths of a gallon of ethanol per bushel of corn. 

EPA Proposals

1. Why is the EPA proposing to reduce the required amount of ethanol mixed with gasoline?

They say that most cars on the line can only take a certain amount of ethanol in the gasoline mixture, and that there isn’t a very high demand for the new fuel. Because of new ways to find oil such as fracking, using ethanol as an ulterior method isn’t as important any more. In addition, people who drive “flex-fuel” vehicles aren’t entirely sure how much ethanol they actually can use, causing sales to be lower then expected.