Blue Mass Group

Reality-based commentary on politics.

Burning food still a bad idea

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Another study indicates that our wonderful corn-to-fuel policies are making food much more expensive:

WASHINGTON, July 28 (Reuters) – Large increases in biofuels production in the United States and Europe are the main reason behind the steep rise in global food prices, a top World Bank economist said in research published on Monday.

World Bank economist Don Mitchell concluded that biofuels and related low grain inventories, speculative activity, and food export bans pushed prices up by 70 percent to 75 percent.

So other than being a massive taxpayer boondoggle and causing people to riot out of starvation, our corn ethanol subsidies are working out just great.

Recent comments from both the administration and Congressional Democrats on this issue have been less than inspiring — if not outright untrue. I've got a call in to Ed Markey's office — Markey is the Chair of the Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming. I'm asking what the Congressional strategy is in response to the food crisis. I'm told they'll get back to me today.

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  1. MA is trying to move beyond corn.  From my inbox yesterday:

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    Governor Patrick Signs Bill Promoting Advanced Biofuels
    Exempting non-food-crop biofuels from gasoline tax, mandating biofuels in diesel and home heating oil, and developing a Low Carbon Fuel Standard for the region, the Clean Energy Biofuels Act will boost clean tech industry

    Governor Deval Patrick today signed the Clean Energy Biofuels Act, legislation that will encourage the growth of an advanced biofuels industry as part of the growing clean energy technology sector in Massachusetts. In nation-leading provisions, the legislation gives preferential tax treatment to non-corn-based alternatives to ethanol, requires biofuel content in all the diesel and home heating fuel sold in the state, and proposes a new fuel standard for the region that will encourage a range of emissions-reducing technologies for cars and trucks.

    Filed in November as a joint initiative with Senate President Therese Murray and House Speaker Salvatore F. DiMasi, the legislation was expanded and refined based on the recommendations of an Advanced Biofuels Task Force appointed by the three leaders, comprising industry representatives, experts, legislators, and agency officials. The Task Force issued its final report in April, following four public hearings across the state.

    “The world is waiting for the next generation of clean, renewable alternatives to petroleum fuels, and Massachusetts is poised to deliver,” said Governor Patrick. “This new law will help us develop advanced biofuels and get them to market, without driving up food prices. We want these new fuels in our tanks and these new jobs in our economy here in Massachusetts.”

    “With all-time high crude oil prices, this new law solidifies our position as a leading producer of fuel alternatives and firmly sets Massachusetts on the transitional course from fossil fuels to clean-energy products,” Senate President Murray said. “It also spurs new economic activity in the forestry and agricultural industries, encouraging the use of fallow land to produce both food and fuel without negatively impacting the food supply.”

    “Now more than ever, people are demanding cleaner, more renewable fuels and Massachusetts is again leading the nation with this advanced biofuels initiative,” said Speaker DiMasi. “This law will help us expand our biofuels sector in the Commonwealth, bring more clean fuel to the marketplace and give people real alternatives to fossil fuels.”

    Biofuels are substitutes for liquid petroleum fuels (such as gasoline, diesel, and heating oil) that are derived from renewable organic matter such as corn, soy, switchgrass, agricultural waste, wood, and waste vegetable oil. “Advanced” biofuels are generally derived from non-food-based feedstocks and defined in federal law as those that yield a lifecycle reduction in greenhouse gas emissions of at least 50 percent compared with fossil fuels.

    While Massachusetts plays little role in the corn- and soy-based biofuels of today, the advanced biofuels of tomorrow depend on biochemical research, technological entrepreneurship, and feedstocks that can be grown locally. Already, Massachusetts is home to a number of leading companies in the quest to develop advanced biofuels, including Mascoma Corp. of Boston, where the signing ceremony was held today, and SunEthanol of Hadley, a spin-off of discoveries made at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst.

    “We are thrilled that Massachusetts is demonstrating a commitment to the development of biofuels through the passing of this important legislation,” said Bruce Jamerson, CEO of Mascoma Corp., a leading cellulosic ethanol development company based in Boston, who served on the Advanced Biofuels Task Force. “We are proud to be part of this landmark moment.”

    The Task Force estimated that a mature advanced biofuels industry could contribute $280 million to $1 billion per year to the Massachusetts economy by 2025, generating 1,000 to 4,000 permanent jobs and 150 to 760 temporary construction jobs, while reducing the Bay State’s reliance on petroleum imports.

    In its major provisions, the Clean Energy Biofuels Act:

    ·        Exempts from the state gasoline excise tax cellulosic biofuels – gasoline substitutes made from the fibrous matter (cellulose) of feedstocks such as switchgrass, agricultural wastes, and forest products rather than corn. Massachusetts is the first state in the nation to give a tax incentive for the use of cellulosic biofuels rather than corn-based ethanol.

    ·        Requires a minimum percentage of biofuel as component of all diesel fuel and home heating fuel sold in the Commonwealth, starting at 2 percent in 2010 and ramping up to 5 percent by 2013. Massachusetts is the first state in the nation to require biofuel in home heating fuel. All biofuels must meet high standards for reduction of greenhouse gas emissions over their entire lifecycles (growing, processing, and combustion) in order to qualify for the content mandate. The state Department of Energy Resources has authority to delay the minimum content requirements if there are no biofuels available that meet those standards.

    ·        Requires Massachusetts to develop, as a successor to minimum percentage requirements, a Low Carbon Fuel Standard that would reduce greenhouse gas emissions from the transportation sector by 10 percent and to seek an agreement with the member states of the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative to implement the Standard on a regional basis. To date, only California has committed to developing a Low Carbon Fuel Standard, which could be met by a range of possible technologies – more and better biofuels, plug-in hybrids, all-electric cars, or other innovations. In May, following an announcement that he and the legislative leadership had committed to a regional Low Carbon Fuel Standard, as recommended by the Advanced Biofuels Task Force, Governor Patrick sent a letter to all RGGI-state governors inviting them to work with Massachusetts on the effort.

    The Clean Energy Biofuels Act is the third piece of legislation signed by Governor Patrick this spring encouraging clean energy alternatives to fossil fuels and supporting the growth of a clean energy technology industry in Massachusetts. The Green Communities Act will remake the electricity marketplace in Massachusetts to favor efficiency over additional power generation, saving energy and money for consumers, and to support the development and use of renewable energy by residents, businesses, and municipalities. The Oceans Act, which requires the development of a first-in-the-nation comprehensive management plan for Massachusetts’s state waters, allows for the development of wind, wave, and tidal power as part of a plan that balances new and traditional uses with preservation of natural resources.

  2. global climate crisis and the energy crisis is going to mean the following:

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    p>1.  We need to be nimble, adjusting to new information quickly, like the fact that, as you said “burning food” is just not going to work out.

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    p>2.  Understand that there isn’t going to be One Solution.  We need to invest in several “wedges” at a time.

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    p>This is going to be tough for Americans to accept, since it’s always just been one product:  gas.  Even worse for politicians.  I’ll be interested to hear what Rep. Markey says.

    • First, I for one am glad we are not all jumping on the corn-based solutions. Great food, but marginal fuel source. That said, why haven’t we had broader support for the wind-farms being proposed in places like Texas and the mid-west? There are plenty of Locations in NE where we could use them too. Solar heating and photo-voltaic cells are great sources of renewal energy, but currently a little pricey. Although there are many PV projects being planned. Nuclear plants would take a giant gulp off the country’s insatiable thirst for oil.

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      p>But let’s not forget so many things to be handled on the demand side of the equation. For starters we need some real leadership in Detroit. The current hybrid offered by Toyota (Prius) are doing extremely well. But why hasn’t Detroit followed the leader? Why can’t we get things going with American car makers? Most American cars have miserable gas mileage numbers.

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      p>Then there is so much more along the lines of home energy solutions (insulation, window treatments, home heating zones, on-demand water heaters, dual or tri-fuel home heaters, solar heaters, low wattage fluorescent bulbs, motion detector switches for lights…) and oh ya, tax incentives.

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      p>Public transportation needs to have some brains added to it. Some states are not ideal for PT but MA surely is. How about some Communter Rail stations kissing the Mass Pike at various locations to encourage riders from Western?central Mass to take the rail to Boston? Include free parking for a little more incentive. How about some more “park & ride” locations along the major highways in MA to encourage car pooling? Maybe look at targeted buses for major areas (paike/128 area to Burlington or Boston)…

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      p>How about some thoughts about changing the way we live out here in the burbs concerning youth athletics such as dropping the idea of “traveling teams” where a team from your town plays against teams from all over the state. What’s wrong with playing the next town over instead challenging a team from Lincoln, RI? Also, how about we put kids on teams within a town who are living near each other (vs. random picking) so parents can car pool to games from the neighborhood?

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      p>These are some small and larger scale solutions but what’s missing from my thoughts are the words “and this idea is supported by the government/politicians” as seen in this new bill…

  3. Burning food is a bad idea… Or, as Melville put it:

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    “Well then, cook; you see this whale-steak of yours was so very bad, that I have put it out of sight as soon as possible; you see that, don’t you? Well, for the future, when you cook another whale- steak for my private table here, the capstan, I’ll tell you what to do so as not to spoil it by overdoing. Hold the steak in one hand, and show a live coal to it with the other; that done, dish it; d’ye hear?

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    p>Mmm… makes my mouth water.  No sir, burning food is a bad idea…

  4. People are starving because our government leaders, many of whom are a step away from scandal or indictment, made some terrible decisions.  Did I read about this in an Ayn Rand novel in high school?  Or a Russian History class?  Sounds so familiar…

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    p>Whenever and whatever they decide, it will take years to fix.  These are crops.  Plantings have to be planned, financing gained, seeds sown at a proper time, the weather has to cooperate, then we may get a crop.  Growing crops takes a mentality that is alien to our leaders of government.  

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    p>What separates our leaders from Robert Mugabe is degree, not philosophy.

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    p>Expect things to get much worse.    

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