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Ethanol Glut Sinking Farmers' Hopes

Posted Sep 30, 07 4:46 AM CDT in Business,  Arts & Living,  US 

(Newser) – A glut of ethanol has sent prices plumetting, staggering the hopes of farmers and businesses who once counted on a biofuel gold rush, reports the New York Times. Companies and farm cooperatives built so many ethanol distilleries that production has far outpaced demand, in part because distribution hasn't kept up.

The average ethanol market price has plunged 30 percent in the last four months. “The end of the ethanol boom may already be here,” warned one economist. While government subsidies will likely keep production moving, the emerging troubles raise serious doubts that the biofuel can provide a reliable alternative to conventional energy sources.

Source New York Times

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Corn farmer Keith Witt checks the quality of freshly harvested corn, Wednesday, Sept. 12, 2007 in Warrenton, Mo. The growing ethanol industry, and related rises in corn prices, is staking corn growers...   (Associated Press)
A gas station displays the price of its cheapest gas, available only at some pumps, on a sign in North Platte, Neb., Tuesday, Aug. 21, 2007. Motorists wanting to stretch their legs and gas up in this...   (Associated Press)
Republican presidential hopeful former Mass. Gov. Mitt Romney speaks to employees at the Pioneer Hybrids facility, Wednesday, April 4, 2007, in Johnston, Iowa. At a time when demand for the corn-based...   (Associated Press)
Democratic presidential hopeful New York Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton talks with research scientist Laura Higgins while touring the Pioneer Hi-Bred International Facility Research Greenhouses in Johnston,...   (Associated Press)
An unsold 2007 Chevrolet Tahoe that operates on ethanol sits outside a General Motors dealership in the northeast Denver suburb of Brighton, Colo., on Sunday, July 1, 2007. Auto sales statistics show...   (Associated Press)
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