Posted on April 25 at 7:07 p.m. (Suggest removal)

It's too bad that the author (Crisp) chose to use the one outlier (and that's using the term loosely) in Pimental to quote statistics about corn ethanol. Pimental is so far off from all (like 17) other analyses that have been performed in past and recent years that there's a collection of comments noting how far. If you really want to get educated as to how far off he is, try either of these links:
< http://eerc.ra.utk.edu/etcfc/docs/pr/Arg... >
< http://eerc.ra.utk.edu/etcfc/docs/pr/Mic... >

True, we have to make a switch to using non-food based resources to produce the fuel, and we must learn how to use less petroleum as well (if you think that's hogwash watch oil prices escalate over the next five years), but as Tiller points out, this is a first step in a decades-long transition. Does any of you expect to be driving a fuel cell vehicle in the next 20 years? Don't hold your breath. The technology has made lots of advances but it is still a long way off.

Meanwhile, what fuel do you want to use when a gallon of petroleum cost $10+? First generation ethanol and biodiesel are laying the groundwork for the 2nd and 3rd generation biofuels. Algae to biodiesel and biomass to cellulosic ethanol are what we need to focus on, and that transition is already underway (for both).

The primary driver in the price of food going up worldwide is demand (think those climbing the economic scale in India and China that are moving to more beef/chicken/pork-based diets) and the secondary driver is oil prices. What has caused rice and wheat prices to go through the roof? It has nothing to do with biofuels (the prime driver for increasing wheat prices last year was the drought in Australia where much wheat is produced).

Additionally, Americans need to realize that we cannot drill our way out of this problem. Look up how much oil and NG the new (much-hyped) Tupi field off the coast of Brazil (8 billion barrels) is really adding to the world supply -- it's not a drop in the bucket compared to what Saudi Arabia has alone. We are using this precious resource too quickly (yes, it's a great resource, we are just misusing/overusing it). Wait until Tata's new Nano (the sub-1,000 rupi car) hits the streets of India: ther oil consumption is going to go sky high.

Keep reading (beyond newspaper writers that do little homework to determine what is worthy data) and you might just come around to see the big picture.

On Chattanooga: Mixed fuel for your tank