Clever ways to honor mom this Mother's Day

Economist figures a tank of ethanol = food for a year

Every day, it seems, corn ethanol gets a little less attractive. In fact, if the information in this article from the latest print edition of The Economist catches on, then ethanol advocates are going to have two more easy-to-remember absurditiies to defend: 1.) biofuels will use a third of the maize grown in the U.S. this year and 2.) filling "up an SUV's fuel tank with ethanol [uses] enough maize to feed a person for a year."

I'm not saying I want to eat corn for a year, but there is a lot of corn in many of the prepared foods sold in America (high fructose corn syrun, corn meal, etc.). Shifting so much of the grain from food to fuel - and the resulting effect on food prices - gave The Economist the idea to title the article "The end of cheap food." Welcome to the era of the ethanol-guzzlers driving to buy $10 boxes of corn flakes?

I recommend checking out the full article for the details, but before you go, let's just wonder out loud what type of ethanol the writer is talking about with that gas tank comment. Is it E85 going into the tank? That's most likely, because that the fuel that is commonly sold as "ethanol" in the U.S., but perhaps the dramatic number requires us to calculate using E100. It's an important distinction, but the general message stands whatever percentage we're talking about.

[Source: Ethanol, thanks to Nick B.]

Related Headlines

Reader Comments

(Page 1)

Add your comments

Please keep your comments relevant to this blog entry. Email addresses are never displayed, but they are required to confirm your comments.

When you enter your name and email address, you'll be sent a link to confirm your comment, and a password. To leave another comment, just use that password.

To create a live link, simply type the URL (including http://) or email address and we will make it a live link for you. You can put up to 3 URLs in your comments. Line breaks and paragraphs are automatically converted — no need to use <p> or <br> tags.

New Users

Current Users

AutoblogGreen Features


Green News
AutoblogGreen Exclusive (681)
AutoblogGreen Q & A (98)
Biodiesel (1162)
Carbon Capture (54)
Carbon Offset (208)
Coal to Liquid (26)
Diesel (1285)
Emerging Technologies (1346)
Etc. (2092)
Ethanol (1343)
EV/Plug-in (2103)
Flex-Fuel (407)
Green Culture (1063)
Green Daily (789)
HCCI (21)
Holidash (16)
Hybrid (2116)
Hydrogen (889)
In The AutoblogGreen Garage (29)
Legislation and Policy (1273)
Lightweight (85)
Manufacturing/Plants (506)
Natural Gas (147)
NEV (Neighborhood Electric Vehicle) (38)
MPG (1141)
Oil Sands (7)
On Two Wheels (282)
Podcasts (21)
Solar (250)
Transportation Alternatives (679)
Vegetable Oil (111)
Events
Automotive X-Prize (27)
AFVI Show (28)
Barcelona International Motor Show (5)
Boston AltWheels (12)
Brisbane Auto Show (2)
Chicago Auto Show (34)
Detroit Auto Show (177)
Geneva Motor Show (167)
Ecofest (6)
EDTA Conference (15)
EVS23 (32)
Frankfurt Motor Show (111)
HybridFest (10)
LA Auto Show (65)
New York Auto Show (73)
Paris Motor Show (3)
SAE World Congress (43)
Santa Monica Alt Car Expo (51)
SEMA Show (25)
Tokyo Motor Show (55)
Washington DC Auto Show (11)
Manufacturers
Acura (15)
Alfa Romeo (3)
American Electric Vehicle (11)
Aptera (20)
Aston Martin (9)
Audi (147)
Bentley (11)
BMW (228)
Bugatti (2)
Buick (12)
Cadillac (39)
Chevrolet (310)
Chrysler (143)
Citroen (45)
DaimlerChrysler (128)
Dodge (65)
Fiat (87)
Ferrari (23)
Fisker (19)
Ford (531)
GEM (13)
GM (626)
GMC (52)
Honda (332)
HUMMER (77)
Hyundai (66)
Infiniti (7)
Isuzu (10)
Jaguar (18)
Jeep (39)
Kia (30)
Lamborghini (11)
Land Rover (31)
Lexus (89)
Lincoln (12)
Lotus (31)
Maserati (1)
Maybach (1)
Mazda (86)
Mercedes Benz (216)
Mercury (21)
Miles Automotive (32)
MINI (46)
Mitsubishi (74)
Nissan (138)
Opel (22)
Peugeot (58)
Phoenix (52)
Pontiac (7)
Porsche (59)
PSA (62)
Renault (58)
Rolls Royce (9)
Saab (65)
Saturn (74)
Scion (20)
SEAT (5)
SMART (152)
Subaru (35)
Suzuki (25)
Tesla Motors (226)
Th!nk (Think) (29)
Toyota (649)
Universal Electric Vehicle (10)
Vectrix (20)
Venture Vehicles (8)
Volkswagen (314)
Volvo (77)
Zap (88)
ZENN (36)
Region
Africa (7)
Asia (28)
China (77)
European Union (198)
Germany (32)
India (43)
Japan (34)
Middle East (13)
North America (44)
Pacific Region (27)
South/Latin America (31)
UK (162)
USA (294)

RESOURCES

RSS NEWSFEEDS

Powered by Blogsmith

Sponsored Links

Featured Galleries

Earthrace Biodiesel-powered boat
TRIAC
Naturmobil / Naturcar
Dwight's Nissan Xterra
AFS Trinity SUV with Windmills
Peta Lettuce Ladies
2009 Audi TT TDI
First Jetta TDI Cup race
BMW H2R Project
VW Jetta TDI Cup First Practice
2007 Green Grand Prix
KTM X-Bow racing debut
Zap Solar Electric Delivery Truck
Beijing 2008: BYD e6
SAE 2008: CPI's Electric Racer

 

Most Commented On (7 days)

Recent Comments

Weblogs, Inc. Network

Other Weblogs Inc. Network blogs you might be interested in: