More on biofuels

I went to a lecture by Lonnie Ingram, director of the University of Florida's Center for Renewable Chemicals and Fuels, a distinguished-looking fellow with a strong southern drawl. He discussed his group's efforts to genetically engineer bacteria - primarily the microbiologist's usual workhorse, Escherichia coli - to make grain alcohol (ethanol), acetate and pyruvate out of the sugars that compose wood and other plant fibers, providing a replacement for petroleum as a source of fuel, plastic, and so forth. He saw his mission as working to end the dependence on foreign oil, a cause of much war and pollution, and pointed to a recent report by the Department of Agriculture and the Department of Energy that argues that it would be feasible to replace most of the USA's oil imports with plant derivatives, and that plant debris that's now landfilled could by itself provide a substantial fraction (maybe a quarter) of the requirement. Growing dedicated energy crops under today's fuel-intensive agriculture has, as I've noted, definite drawbacks, but refining fibers that are thrown away sounds benign.

Also on the topic, the NY Times, in an article entitled "Mountains of Corn and a Sea of Farm Subsidies" discussed the ineconomy of the bumper corn harvest, the fruit of billions of dollars in government subsidies, while the closure of New Orleans makes it difficult to export, and cautioned:

While farmers and grain merchants like Mr. Fray expect even more corn to be planted next year, some traders believe that higher natural gas prices will cause farmers to grow less corn - natural gas is used to make fertilizer, pesticides and herbicides. "With higher energy costs you will see more wheat acres and soybean acres," Mr. Bruce said."

Something similar is happening in Germany. Reuters quotes the deputy Minister of Agriculture Alexander Mueller:

Asked if biofuel production could provide a new market for European Union farmers as the World Trade Organization reduces export subsidies used to remove Europe's huge overproduction of farm products, he said:

"We are standing before the next round of world trade talks in Hong Kong, market access for food will be one of the central points."

"Production of biofuels and renewable raw materials can become a second pillar for the agricultural economy along with production of food."

"We need a strategic decision for the next decade and the political side must provide the framework for expansion."