When talking about using ethanol from corn, many people are quick to object. "Doesn't using corn as a feedstock raise the price of corn?" At first glance this seems reasonable : Using corn for fuel instead of food will raise the price of corn. However, upon further inspection we see that the corn used for fuel is a different type than the kind used for food. Landspace is the only issue. Thus, by the same argument, if one decides to grow apples instead of corn, they are having the same sort of effect on corn prices, by not planting corn. But we don't hear critics of this problem complaining about apples.
What does make a difference is petroleum fuel costs. Transporting corn takes energy, and if that energy becomes more expensive, then naturally the price of corn will also increase. This graph supports that view.
If there were a direct correlation, we would see the ethanol production spike along with the corn prices. However, this is not the case. There might be some other factors, like weather, or an increased demand for ethanol worldwide.
The same is true for soybeans.
You found a lot of great information. It might help to cite as well the information about ethanol from end of suburbia. In end of suburbia they say that corn is not a means of energy we should invest in because it takes oil energy to turn it into ethanol that would be useful
ReplyDelete