Ethanol: Train Wreck Ahead? (journal article)
by Robbin S. Johnson and C. Ford Runge
from Issues in Science & Technology, Vol. 24 No. 1, Fall 2007, pp. 25 - 30
"The article reports that government policy is stoking unsustainable growth of the corn-based fuel. The new vogue in energy policy is plant-derived alternative fuels. The current policy bias toward corn-based ethanol has driven a run-up in the prices of staple foods in the U.S. and around the world, with particularly hurtful consequences for poor consumers in developing countries. U.S. ethanol policies rig the market against alternatives based on the conversion of cellulosic inputs such as switchgrass and wood fibers. Moreover, the environmental consequences of corn-based ethanol are far from benign, and indeed are negative in a number of important respects."