ethanol

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Floods Cloud Biofuel Future
 Floods Cloud Biofuel Future 
Jul 1, 2008 4:09 AM CDT

Floods Cloud Biofuel Future

Ruined Midwest crops spark worries about fuel supplies

(Newser) - The floods that swamped the corn belt last month have raised fresh fears about the future of biofuels, the New York Times reports. The ruined corn crop has sent the price of ethanol soaring, and experts worry that unpredictable weather could lead to future spikes in the price of energy...

Ties to Corn Industry Shape Obama's Policy

Views on ethanol please agribusiness, not economists

(Newser) - Barack Obama trumpets corn-derived ethanol as an alternative energy source and has endorsed tariffs that benefit the industry. But the Times reports that many in the Obama campaign, from Tom Daschle to the candidate's top environmental adviser, have close ties to the corn industry—a kernel of the surprise victory...

Midwest Floods May Seep Into Gas Prices

Decimated corn crop will likely boost refiners' ethanol costs

(Newser) - Gas prices could be going up even more as Midwest floods put acres of corn underwater, causing its price—and that of ethanol—to spike, the Wall Street Journal reports. Relatively low ethanol prices have helped keep gasoline in check, but ethanol refiners paying more for corn could be forced...

Grain Prices Surge With Midwest Floods

Water inundating heartland expected to drive food, oil prices still higher

(Newser) - The floods inundating the Midwest are pushing grain prices to new highs, the Wall Street Journal reports. Corn prices jumped 10% to a record high last week as farmland flooded. The domino effects will hit the ethanol industry, hog farmers, and even owners of catfish ponds who rely on corn...

Food vs. Fuel Battle Flares at UN Summit

Egypt's Mubarak asks, should we be feeding people or cars?

(Newser) - The battle over biofuels is raging at the UN’s food summit in Rome, with nations bitterly divided over whether growing corn and sugar cane for ethanol production is pushing food prices up and helping create disastrous global food shortages. On one side: Food experts who call diversion of crops...

Is There a Solar Bubble?
 Is There a Solar Bubble?
OPINION
May 22, 2008 4:01 PM CDT

Is There a Solar Bubble?

Parallels with now-depressed ethanol stocks sure to scare investors

(Newser) - Stocks in solar-energy outfits are enjoying a sustained rally, but investors should remember the lesson of ethanol, Mark Gongloff writes in the Wall Street Journal. Once-loved ethanol stocks are now widely scorned—mainly because the energy source will never be viable without government subsidies. Still, despite solar’s advantages, shares...

Shoppers Give Up Organics as Food Prices Soar

Groceries high, organic even higher

(Newser) - With a gallon of organic milk costing a whopping $7 and a conventional gallon going for $2.99, cash-strapped shoppers are skipping organic groceries. That means the $19 billion industry, which has ballooned 150% since 2001, may now be shrinking, Newsweek reports. “I miss it terribly,” said one...

Food Prices May Force Cuts in Farm Subsidies

Normally 'untouchable' price supports at risk in Congress

(Newser) - Soaring food prices are putting pressure on Congress to withdraw some of the billions in  farm subsidies and ethanol incentives that have been considered politically untouchable for decades, the Los Angeles Times reports. With average farm income more than $89,000 this year—30% above the national average—the White...

Ethanol Guzzles 25% of US Corn; Links Food, Fuel Prices

Switch to corn-based fuel links grain and energy prices

(Newser) - When Congress passed its latest energy bill four months ago, the provision to boost ethanol requirements was exceedingly popular. But now, critics are lambasting that measure, and the ethanol movement in general, for linking skyrocketing food and oil prices. “We used to have a grain economy and a fuel...

What the Candidates Should Be Talking About
What the Candidates Should Be Talking About
OPINION
Apr 28, 2008 8:23 PM CDT

What the Candidates Should Be Talking About

LA Times editors take a break from nonsense and turn to issues

(Newser) - Quick, before the public completely loses interest: Let’s leave aside “guns, bitterness, race, religion, geriatric radicals and other trivia,” and turn to real presidential political issues, Los Angeles Times editors write. They pose some questions that most need answering:
  • For John McCain: You voted against giving workers
...

Fill 'Er Up— In Your Own Back Yard

Distiller could home-brew ethanol for as little as $1 a gallon

(Newser) - Backyard brew may soon ease the pain at the gas pump if two entrepreneurs pushing a home ethanol system have their way, reports the New York Times. E-Fuel Corporation's device is roughly the size of a stackable washer-dryer and will sell for about $10,000. Using sugar or feedstock and...

Food Crisis Lurks in Soaring Prices, Says IMF Chief

Predicts widespread starvation, conflict

(Newser) - Rising food prices may soon have dire global consequences with starving people rioting in the streets, warns the head of the International Monetary Fund. “Hundred of thousands of people will be starving,” he said yesterday at a meeting in Washington. “Children will be suffering from malnutrition, with...

As Global Temps Rise, So Do ... Popcorn Prices

As farmers plant more crops for biofuels, moviegoers feel pinch

(Newser) - The movie stars driving flex-fuel SUV are driving up popcorn prices at the nation’s nickelodeons, and it’s not because of their salaries: A move toward planting crops for alternative-fuel production has made popping corn more scarce—and therefore more expensive, the Los Angeles Times reports. Moviegoers shouldn’t...

Gas Prices Hit Record High
Gas Prices Hit Record High
Mar 10, 2008 8:50 AM CDT

Gas Prices Hit Record High

$4 gallon of gas around the corner, experts warn

(Newser) - Gas prices rocketed 64 cents in the last year to a national average of $3.20 per gallon of regular, CNN reports.  A survey of prices at 5,000 gas stations found the highest price, $3.58, in San Francisco and the lowest, $2.99, in Cheyenne, Wyoming. The...

Gas Still Rules Green Auto Show
Gas Still Rules Green Auto Show
Mar 5, 2008 12:00 PM CST

Gas Still Rules Green Auto Show

'We're talking about decades' before cars can be weaned off fossil fuels

(Newser) - Green was the color of opening day yesterday at the International Auto Salon in Geneva, another show full of hybrids and other low-emission vehicles, with green lighting and nature-friendly slogans to prove car companies care, Der Spiegel reports. Still, cautions General Motors' CEO to those set to pronounce the gasoline...

Corn May Be Recipe for Disaster
Corn May Be Recipe for Disaster
Mar 3, 2008 12:05 PM CST

Corn May Be Recipe for Disaster

Drought would ripple through US economy

(Newser) - The US is becoming so dependent on corn that a drought would have catastrophic effects that would ripple throughout the economy, reports the LA Times. Corn is essential as staple livestock feed, artificial sweetener, and a basic component of ethanol. A "corn shock" could lead to $5 gas and...

Beer and Pizza Getting Pricey
Beer and Pizza Getting Pricey
Mar 1, 2008 3:58 PM CST

Beer and Pizza Getting Pricey

Rising fuel and ingredient costs affect traditional cheap eats

(Newser) - Even cheap foods like pizza and bagels are getting pricey these days over a mix of inflationary pressures, MSNBC reports. Last year's shocking 4% food price hike was driven by more than gas prices, one analyst says: It's diesel that fuels the trucks and trains that transport goods. "It's...

Boom Time on Heartland Farms
Boom Time on Heartland Farms
Feb 15, 2008 2:55 AM CST

Boom Time on Heartland Farms

US farmers strike it rich satisfying ethanol, export demands

(Newser) - The US economy may be teetering on a precipice but agriculture is enjoying what one industry analyst is calling a "golden age" after decades of decline, with bountiful harvests of crops and profits. The boom is fueled by the soaring demand from ethanol producers and to fill grain orders...

Biofuels Will Add to Heating Climate, Studies Say

Land likely to be used for production is already helping absorb carbon

(Newser) - Biofuels could hurt Earth more than help it, two new studies conclude. Over 30 years, argues one, corn-based ethanol would spout twice the greenhouse gas of regular gasoline; the other notes environmental damage likely to be wreaked by chopping rainforests and other areas for production, the Washington Post reports. The...

Black News for Not-So-Green Biofuels

Producing crops for fuel releases more greenhouse gas than it saves: studies

(Newser) - Producing crops for biofuel releases more greenhouse gases into the atmosphere than is saved by using the alternative energy, according to the findings of two surprising new studies. Converting US farmland from producing food to ethanol necessitates food production elsewhere, vastly increasing greenhouse gas emissions as forests and grasslands are...

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