Wood Versus Fuel

I know it has been a week since I put up something new. Some readers have also noticed that I haven’t been commenting much lately, and my e-mails are piling up. Things have just been […]

USDA Cellulosic Ethanol Reality Check

I was getting some traffic from Grist, and I tracked it back to this story by Tom Philpott: The USDA goes all lukewarm on cellulosic ethanol Now this is good stuff. The same outfit that […]

Energy Balance For Ethanol Better Than For Gasoline?

Surely you have heard the claim. Proponents of ethanol will claim that it takes less fossil fuels to produce a BTU of ethanol than to produce a BTU of gasoline. Here is the claim from […]

How Reliable are Those USDA Ethanol Studies?

Introduction The pro-ethanol contingent is quick to point to certain studies published by the USDA to support the claim that the energy balance of grain-ethanol is positive. Many anti-ethanol advocates will point to studies by […]

Grain-Derived Ethanol: The Emperor’s New Clothes

Energy security. Homegrown fuels. Better markets for our farmers. And by gosh, it’s good for the environment. Sounds good, doesn’t it? Where do I sign up? However, the truth behind grain-derived ethanol is masked behind […]