...we surrender that which makes us human. --- A Buddhist Proverb (that I saw recently and thought extremely appropriate to current world events).
The world has really gone crazy (especially America) because now we are feeding grain to the machines and the price of food is going through the roof.
The hype about ethanol solving our fuel problems is one of the biggest farces ever perpetrated on the public and they are swallowing it as fast they are consuming gasoline.
No one in a serious policy making capacity has thought this through, or if they have they are sweeping the facts under the rug. It takes an enormous amount of resources to produce the corn necessary to make ethanol, not the least of which is water. The water in the High Plains Aquifer (aka the Ogallala Aquifer) underlying the Great Plains is fossil water that is not being replenished. The water table in some areas is down 1,000 feet from historical levels and the current water consumption rates are not sustainable, let alone any increases for more corn production.
Cheers to all,
Alex