robi2106's Journal: Ethanol Fuel: Unlikely Foes

I have been studying the ethanol production process for quite a while because it is the subject of my first feature length / made for TV production. So naturally when I ran across a Slashdot Frontpage article about EtOH I was interested. Get the article from the source.

This is market economics at work. Here is the gist: The Fed takes our money in the form of taxes, and then gives out some of that money as subsidies to foster behavior / activities it wants to see. By it, I mean the massive government bureaucracy. Part of the problem with EtOH production is that the raw products needed are being taken from other production flows to satisfy this new demand. Nothing unusual there. The down side comes in that by offering the subsidies for a specific product, the government is effectively raising the cost of production for all other industries that need the same materials by not also providing them with free money. Very interesting in deed. Am I in favor of the subsidies? I don't know yet. I stand to profit from the growing EtOH trend through the production of my informative product (which isn't just a How-To but also include blueprints, part lists, yield calculators, and loads of other resources) but there are some issues with the industry. Give it a read.

Jason

This is one case

[ces]

where I think the subsidies need to be killed. They are too production method specific. Stimulating the demand side by stipulating its use as a fuel additive or exempting it from road taxes is one thing, but subsidizing production from corn distorts the market way too much.

Similarly I'd be for getting rid of all sugar import tariffs (among other things).

I'd like to see subsidies AND trade deals killed

[Marxist Hacker 42]

Keep American Corn for American Ethanol- which would revitalize the Mexican production of corn that was killed due to subsidies after NAFTA. Then kill the subsidies completely, as they are inhibiting other methods of making ethanol from reaching production.

Re:I'd like to see subsidies AND trade deals kille

[robi2106]

Agreed. The subsidies bit is just an artificial prop. If Ethanol is so good then people will want to buy it any way and someone will make it. But make them do it with out killing other consumers of that product.

jason

Re:

[robi2106]

heh... so some farmers may be "making" EtOH by first feeding the corn to livestock, and then capturing the cow flops and extracting the fuel from there.... What? Low yields you say? Darn.

jason