Ethanol Ships Passing in the Night

There’s a hot new craze called the “Ethanol Shuffle” sweeping seaports from Sao Paulo to Los Angeles as tankers carrying Brazilian sugarcane ethanol bound for California pass those carrying corn ethanol bound for Brazil.

Renewable Fuels Association (RFA) Vice President of Research and Analysis Geoff Cooper wrote about the “Ethanol Shuffle” last week on the RFA E-xchange Blog. Basically, we are shuffling sugarcane ethanol from Brazil to California to meet that state’s Low Carbon Fuels Standard (LCFS) – while at the same time, Brazil is importing lower priced corn ethanol from the United States to make up for not only the ethanol it is exporting to California, but the shortfall that country has experienced in ethanol production recently.

So, that’s how the “Ethanol Shuffle” works. California imports sugarcane ethanol from Brazil rather than corn ethanol from Nebraska or Kansas; and in turn, corn ethanol from the Midwest travels to Houston or Galveston via rail, then is shipped to Brazil via tanker to “backfill” the volumes they sent to the U.S. Picture the irony of a tanker full of U.S. corn ethanol bound for Brazil passing a tanker full of cane ethanol bound for Los Angeles or Miami along a Caribbean shipping route.

This is more than ironic, it’s just plain ignorant. First of all, sugarcane ethanol costs more than corn ethanol. According to Cooper, the ethanol California has been importing from Brazil has been an average of $1.56 per gallon MORE than corn ethanol from the Midwest. “As far as E10 goes, that’s about a 16 cent per gallon differential,” said Cooper.

The reason California prefers sugarcane ethanol over corn is because they claim it is better for the environment, a claim which can be disputed, depending on how the life cycle analysis is determined (see previous post). But, even if sugarcane ethanol actually does have a better carbon footprint than corn ethanol, that advantage is lost in the transportation shuffle. “If we were serving the California market with corn ethanol from Nebraska and the Brazilians were satisfying their own demands with their own fuel, the emissions related with moving that fuel are about half of what we’re seeing with this shuffling dynamic,” said Cooper.

Listen to an interview with Cooper about the Ethanol Shuffle here: Geoff Cooper on the Ethanol Shuffle

Want Cutting-Edge Technology in Your Workplace? Farmers Do Too

Imagine how differently a day at the office might have been in 1961.  A secretarial pool takes the place of word processing software.  Googling a subject might take hours and physical labor sifting through back editions of the paper or encyclopedias and still yield limited results.  Email communications require a phone call, paper memo or even a written letter sent through courier or mail without the Internet.  Once out of the office, communication ceases unless a coworker dials a landline nearby.

While most people have capriciously wished for an end to modern technology following a particularly annoying late-night text from an employer, only the smallest minority actually advocates a return to the workplace technology of 50 years ago.

So, why do so many people outside of agriculture think that a return to equally antiquated technology would actually improve farming?

Recently, a column in Stock and Land magazine examined the impact of a large-scale return to the farming methods of our forefathers, a romantic notion with dismal consequences. Instead of growing a crop large enough to share with the world, U.S. farmers would produce only enough food to feed half of the country’s current population.  Maintaining levels of dairy, meat and milk production would require two-thirds more land.  Increased environmental degradation and social unrest further complicate this already hungry scenario.

Simply, removing technology and scientific advances from modern life seriously damages productivity and effectiveness whether done in corporate or agrarian America.  Notably, the negative impact on farming creates a food shortage thus depriving an incredible number of those in towns and cities of the sustenance needed to survive.

Instead of buying into the soft-focus vision of farming that replaces knowledge and understanding with a vague sense of nostalgia, get the facts.  Question the farmers and ranchers who produce food about how and why they use the technology and practices that they do.  Look at the bounty of healthy options U.S. agriculture offers.  Become part of national discussion about food that seeks a better tomorrow instead of a rose-tinted version of the past.

French Illegally Banned GMO Crops

France’s top administrative court on Monday overturned a government order banning French farmers from planting genetically modified crops France’s agriculture ministry imposed a ban in February 2008 amid concerns over public safety, but its decision had already been called into question by the European Court and has now been annulled by the State Council.

Truthfully, their ongoing and Zombie-like fight against proven GMO technology has been like watching a bad movie that you just can’t stop watching. The ludicrous and persistent effort has been watched by farmers, scientists, regulators and some consumers without cable TV around the world. And one might suspect there might even be some betting pools initiated regarding who would finally put a bullet in the head of this persistent, riveting political theatre. (Ok, I have France planting their first GMO crop in 2013 with 3-1 odds).

Both courts overturned the national ban declaring the French Government presented no scientific evidence of any risk to health or the environment from these crops. EuropaBio’s Director of Green Biotechnology Europe, Carel du Marchie Sarvaas, said: “These judgments from the highest European court and the highest French court send one message loud and clear: bans of GM crops cannot be based on political dogma. As both judgments state, no ban on planting GM crops can be declared without valid scientific evidence, something that France and other European countries have not produced.”

Even if French corn growers don’t get to enter the modern world of corn production in 2012, this is yet another positive sign that the belabored and disingenuous GMO soap opera is on its final legs. Forgive me for saying this but I can hear the EU fat lady signing.

The French court’s decision also offers support for what U.S. scientists, regulators, and industry have been saying all along….there has been copious scientific testing and years of actual use in the real world and the GMO bogeyman remains firmly in the closet where he belongs. However, evidence rises that France will launch new restrictions. French president Nicolas Sarkozy said this week the government was preparing a “new safety clause” to forbid sowing of MON810 produced by Monsanto.

“The French government keeps and will keep its opposition against the cultivation of the Monsanto 810 maize on our soil,” Sarkozy said during a visit in southwestern France. Why do I have this feeling that President Sarkozy DVR’s the “Walking Dead?”

Do Not Let Awareness of this Springs Flood Recede Along with the River

In a summer plagued by extreme weather, farmers along the Missouri and Mississippi Rivers watched as water swelled from its banks and, eventually, covered many of their fields.  These farmers continue working to salvage the 400,000 acres lost to the flood. This is about more than flooded farms and homes though– this is about people’s lives and livelihoods.

2011 has been a devastating year for farmers along the rivers.  In May, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers blew up three levees in southeast Missouri, flooding 200 square miles of homes, fields and businesses along the banks of the Mississippi River. Shortly thereafter, they released historic amounts of water from the Missouri River Reservoir System, flooding an estimated 400,000 acres of prime farmland for four months. Stress, frustration and a sense of hopeless rolled in with the water.

The Missouri Corn Growers Association and Missouri Corn Merchandising Council are working along these growers that the government does not turn its back on the farms that they chose to flood.  Through a new documentary, Underwater and Overlooked: Crisis on the Missouri River, the groups bring the facts  to the forefront, holding the Corps accountable for the 2011 flood along the Missouri River banks and pushing them to take steps to ensure this never happens again.

The Army Corps of Engineers made the decisions that changed the lives of Missouri farmers. Now is the time to hear their stories, understand this tragedy and join with those supporting the victims as they rebuild.  Click here to see what actually happened in Missouri’s farmlands as they sat flooded for 16 weeks.  When the water goes down, the cameras go away and the spotlight dims, keep this story in the public eye until the levees are repaired and flood management is recognized as the top priority by the Corps.

Pseudo-Journalists, Hot Corn and the Heat Dome Monster

According to many St. Louis meteorologists, the heat dome of 2011 will relent today, finally ushering in still-hot, but not life-threatening temperatures.  In retrospect, the seemingly epic heat wave does offer some degree of humor.  It just isn’t summer in the Midwest until some crack journalist attempts to fry an egg, cook macaroni and cheese, or even pop corn on a sidewalk.

While the epic creativity of the ever-rotating crop of insightful local reporters attempting such crazy feats allows us to giggle at the heat, or at least their tired antics, for many, the heat brought about a level of panic, suffering and problems more likely to make a sane person cry.  From illness to electric bills that trigger a special sort of nausea, the heat wave wreaked havoc on what could otherwise have been a productive, enjoyable summer.

Children trapped indoors and sidelined runners aren’t the only groups stopped dead in their tracks by the blistering bubble.  Corn farmers have watched as the crop they worked late into the night to plant following this spring’s unrelenting monsoon season begins to show signs of heat stress.

While the farmers themselves can escape to the icy, dark confines of the closest movie house, corn plants must find ways to endure the heat and preserve precious moisture.  As corn plants are past the pollination stage at this point in the season, each individual plant makes a variety of small adaptations that best allow it to produce the maximum amount of viable seed possible.

As for each of us who has eschewed a morning jog or skipped an outdoor barbeque to cope with the insipid temperatures, corn plants make sacrifices to survive in these conditions.  These sacrifices, although vital to preserving the corn and to the inherent objective of spreading its own genetic material, negatively impact the crop in a number of ways that can subsequently impinge on each individual farmer’s profitability at harvest.

Just walking through a corn field, the toll heat stress takes on a plant becomes obvious.  The normally green, flat leaves that jet from the stalk have rolled in around the edges to reduce surface area, therefore preserving moisture.  Near the ground, leaves have been fired from the stalk completely and now lie in brown, crumpled piles.  The once lush, green field no longer resembles the perfect stands picturesquely surrounding the baseball diamond in “Field of Dreams.”

Heat damage affects more than the cosmetic in corn.  As the nights stay hot and days reach record highs, the plant must further shut down to preserve the seeds encasing its valuable genetic material. The small kernels from the top of the ear abort to save the more desirable brethren at the base.  Even the kernels for which much of the plant was sacrificed may not reach their maximum potential.

At harvest, these ears of corn will still be useful.  The crop will still provide food, feed or fuel depending upon its destination.  Yet, the farmer will again suffer as low test weights and diminished yields chip away at the profitability of the year’s corn crop.  With high fertilizer prices and increasingly expensive land, farmers may find the heat burning them in the pocketbook long after a chilly fall breeze begins to blow in the evenings.

Farmers know from a very young age, most often by observing as their parents and grandparents worked that same land, that every year, every day their livelihood is at the mercy of the weather.  Long after the average person’s electric bill is paid, farmers feel the impact of a long, hot summer.

So, next time a peppy freshman reporter cracks an egg onto a white hot sidewalk remember that the heat dome of 2011 will continue to loom large in the memories of many long after the holidays.  America’s family farmers toil on despite the risk because they realize the importance of producing enough corn to supply the world’s growing demand.

Say thank you by becoming more informed.  Take a moment to read a simple, short brief on how farm programs, such as those coming before Congress next year, help protect farmers from the heat and ensure a vibrant future for this key industry.  If the television station can invest in the same tired heat story year-after-year, the country should invest in the men and women who provide the food that actually ends up on a plate.

Busted! Argonne Scientist Counters Ethanol Myths

With all of the misinformation about ethanol flying around, some consumers have become confused about who they can and cannot trust as a source of information.  Why not go straight to the experts?  An Argonne National Laboratory Transportation Technology R&D Center Mechanical Engineer has decided to clear the air and let everyone in on what scientists already know – ethanol is an excellent alternative fuel option.

Addressing fallacies about food prices, water use and greenhouse gas emissions, Forrest Jehlik shows clearly how the many misconceptions that plague ethanol have no scientific basis.  Backed by Argonne’s laudable reputation for scientific excellence, his statements provide the direct, clear facts.

Noting that the 900,000 barrels of ethanol the U.S. produces per day is equal to our Nigerian oil imports and “within striking distance of the amount we import from Venezuela or Saudi Arabia,” Jehlik gives strong reasons to reexamine our view of ethanol itself and of the policies and regulations aimed at this amazing industry.

Indy Cars Burning Through Iowa on Ethanol

This Saturday, the Iowa Speedway will host the fifth Iowa Corn Indy 250, presented by Pioneer, and ethanol supporters have a chance to show how “green” they really are.  Under green lights, a green flag will drop before cheering fans clad in the same hue.  Combining the excitement of racing with these clear visuals, the Iowa Corn Indy puts both the incredible fuel performance of ethanol and its ecological benefits squarely in the spotlight.

Ethanol has raced into the national racing spotlight already this year as NASCAR switched to a 15 percent ethanol blend for fuel in every car at every race in 2011.  Running on pure ethanol, the Indy cars will reinforce the fuel’s ability to perform in some of the most expensive cars in the world.  With true experts watching for signs of car damage like the hawks of the gear-head world, claims that ethanol damages cars seem questionable at the very best.

The “Green Out” showcases a side of ethanol not as readily apparent as the cars rip through the turns – its environmental benefits.  While racing is certainly exciting, here it is also a vehicle to reach the public with information about this efficient, clean-burning fuel source.

Helping get the word out about ethanol has never been so much fun.  Have some friends over on Saturday, tune into Versus and watch ethanol break away from the pack as consumers see that they can help save the environment without sacrificing performance with domestic, sustainable ethanol.

American Farmers ARE Sustainable

The ability of American farmers to keep producing more with less is a true example of sustainability.

While critics keep attacking modern agriculture methods as being unsustainable, the facts show a completely different story. The latest figures, released by the Fertilizer Institute (TFI) and based on USDA statistics, show that between 1980 and 2010, U.S. farmers nearly doubled corn production using less fertilizer.

Specifically, in 1980, farmers grew 6.64 billion bushels of corn using 3.2 pounds of nutrients (nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium) for each bushel and in 2010 they grew 12.45 billion bushels using 1.6 pounds of nutrients per bushel produced. In total, this represents an 87.5 percent increase in production with 4 percent fewer nutrients during that same time frame. Corn production accounts for half of U.S. fertilizer use and experts estimate that 40 to 60 percent of world food production is attributable to fertilizers.

The traditional definition of sustainability is meeting society’s present needs without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs, and farmers are doing that better than ever before. “Through improvements in modern technology and old fashioned ingenuity, our farmers are using fertilizer with the greatest efficiency in history and have again shown why U.S. agriculture will continue to feed the world,” said TFI President Ford West.

Instead of being criticized, farmers should be commended for continually striving to improve production methods while sustaining not only our planet’s resources but the people on the planet as well.

Why Listen to Experts When You Can Form Your Own Gossip-based, Politically-Motivated Opinion?

For those looking to the government for cues on ethanol, Thursday must have been awfully confusing.  While senators were sipping happy hour cocktails and congratulating themselves on a symbolic, politically-motivated vote attacking ethanol, the Department of Energy was rewarding innovative students for finding ways to improve fuel consumption and emissions in American-made cars.

The same day that senators bemoaned the tax credits given to the ethanol industry, the Department of Energy, in conjunction with contestant co-sponsor General Motors announced that the overall winner of the EcoCAR: The NeXt Challenge was an extended-range electric vehicle using E85 designed and built by a team of Virginia Tech University. They awarded second place to another E85 EREV from Ohio State.  For the DOE, ethanol was a huge winner.

The contest is important as it is a joint government and industry challenge to re-engineer a GM-donated vehicle to minimize the vehicle’s fuel consumption and emissions, while maintaining its utility, safety, and performance. The Virginia Tech team achieved the equivalent of nearly 82 miles per gallon—a 70 percent improvement in fuel efficiency over the stock vehicle.  They did it using 85 percent ethanol as the conventional fuel.

So as the nation’s top energy regulators told the our nation’s future engineering leaders that ethanol was a winner with them, senators deemed ethanol unworthy of assistance despite its ability to provide a clean, sustainable domestic energy source.  Yes, this was the same crew who voted to keep massive Big Oil subsidies.  No, no contest winners made vehicles of the future using the fuel of the past.

It’s time to ask our senators in Washington what they are thinking.  These men and women were not elected for the scientific knowledge, but officials at the DOE were chosen for theirs.  If you have a senator who voted against ethanol, take a moment to ask why he or she continues to ignore what scientists endorse: ethanol.

Nero, Cats and Congress…Good Grief!

A friend of mine told me he thought he heard a strange sound coming from Washington, DC today. He wasn’t quite sure what it was. Sounded
vaguely like a cat being stepped on but he was suspicious it was the sound of Congress playing the fiddle while the capitol or at least reason burned.

For non-history buffs this is a reference to the Roman emperor Nero who is infamously known for playing the fiddle while Rome burned to the ground. Seems like a rather fitting historical reference after Congress has spent a solid week debating legislation that would hamper alternative fuel expansion while giving petroleum a pass.

However, he might have been mistaken. The mournful sound might have been the sound of the recession train coming around the bend again
with OPEC steering the engine. The cartel of oil-producing countries will have $1 trillion in revenues for the first time this year, benefiting from high prices that may cause a “double-dip recession,” according to the London Telegraph.

Oh my gosh….did they really just say “for the first time this year?” I guess that means we have been held up at the gas pumps for this mountain of cash before? Yes, we have, and it is time for the public’s short memory to stop.

Forecasts from the US government show that the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, whose key members include Saudi Arabia and Iran, will collect a third more in revenues because prices have averaged $111 per barrel this year.

If you wondering what kind of catalyst it takes to cause another major recession before the last one is even purged from the memories of the still unemployed….this is pretty much it. We are rapidly running out of time to address our oil addiction in this country when our biggest export product is the U.S. greenback.

It is time to stop shooting ourselves in the foot when it comes to energy and our economy. Want to turn the economy around, let’s start by addressing our energy enslavement. Downsize your ride, drive less, support any and all domestic energy alternatives like ethanol that work. And by all means, would somebody stop stepping on the cat!