Ethanol still golden

As I review some of my missed emails during the week I was in Honduras, I note that the renewable fuel standard was upheld by the EPA. Here is reaction from the American Farm Bureau Federation on Aug. 7:


The Environmental Protection Agency’s decision to deny a request submitted by the state of Texas to reduce the nationwide Renewable Fuels Standard sends a positive signal regarding the substantial economic benefits of renewable fuels, according to the American Farm Bureau Federation.
“We’re pleased that the EPA did not turn its back on the promise of renewable fuels,” said AFBF President Bob Stallman. Texas requested a 50-percent waiver of the national volume requirement for the RFS.
Implementation of the RFS will continue as legislated in the Energy Policy Act of 2007, according to the EPA.
The RFS target for 2008 is 9 billion gallons of renewable fuels including ethanol and biodiesel. That rises to 11.1 billion gallons in 2009 and 36 billion gallons in 2022.



TK: The escalation of the standard for renewable fuels demands a revolution in the use of non food crops to supply the biomass for fuel production. Failing that, I don't see how the goal of 36 billion gallons by 2022 is remotely realistic.


Here is more etanol reaction and other biofuel news:

Record oil prices blamed for high corn prices

Bid to plant genetically modified trees in the UK for biofuel

Improved reactoin data heats up biofuels

Ethanol is not an evil plot concocted by our farmers

Following Buffett's railroad tracks From that story in Seeking Alpa

There are more than 173,000 miles of track in North America, with 150,000 miles in the United States alone. As an industry, it's enormous, generating $42 billion in annual revenues. Some of that revenue is made by moving 30% of this country's grain harvest and more than 40% of all inter-city freight. That's more than any other mean of freight transportation.
As the agriculture industry brings more than 79 new ethanol plants online in the next two years, they expect much of the 12 billion gallons of ethanol to be shipped by railcar. (Ethanol cannot be transported in pipes like oil.)
Railroads also carry more than 65% of the nation's coal, which provides more than half of the nation's electricity. As our power demands increase, so will the coal companies' demand for shipping.