Two years ago, when I first heard of the commercialization of ethanol, or turning corn or sugar into fuel, I thought that technology was God send. What do you think of this technology? Is it a boon or bane on mankind?
Despite the good intentions of proponents of ethanol fuel, this technology has been nothing but a bane on mankind throughout the world. It has resulted in an unprecedented increase in world fuel prices. Turning corn into fuel has consumed about one third of available corn harvests in the United States alone.
Come to think of it, I heard that filling up an SUV with ethanol fuel will use enough corn to feed a man for a year. Where is the logic in that?
Ethanol production is one of the misguided and unfortunate developments this past decade. As a result of these mistakes, the world is facing the most severe food price inflation in history, with grain prices almost doubling the past year. The countries most affected with this is developing countries in Asia and Africa as people have meager income to cushion the rise in food prices as compared with those in the West. This program of turning food into fuel should be stopped as this will exacerbate hunger on the world's poor.
I have been against this idea from the beginning. I have read an article when ethanol was introduced or railroaded on a wide scale that converting corn/sugar into fuel costs more energy than it produces. Without subsidies, this technology is going to be a sure loser. I hope this idea gets burried because it has not done any good worldwide.
Before we bury ethanol into the bad business graveyard, we should also consider that this technology is only in its infancy. Just like cellphones during its infancy were severely limited by their bulky handsets. Cars during their infancy were also not a reliable source of transportation due to fuel and reliability problems. I hope that we do not close the door on this promising technology just because of a few early glitches.
Maybe you are right Hashiki on the early birth pangs of ethanol technology. However, this seems imposed on us and railroaded without any feasibility and cost study on the advantages and disadvantages of ethanol production.
There are a lot of better alternatives to ethanol like natural gas. They are more plentiful than crude oil and I think most vehicles can easily run on this type of gas. Maybe we should stop converting this to electricity or heat up homes in order to replace crude oil and its derivatives.
Effects of Ethanol on Food Prices 
Linear Mode
