How Big Is The Corn-to-alcohol Fraud?
The Renewable Fuel Association, a trade organization of big agribusinesses, lists 129 existing plants with 76 more under construction, and projects the total production capacity to a staggering 13,429 billion gallons of ethanol every year. All but a few small, experimental ones burn corn. (2) History shows an explosion of production in recent years: 2001 1,770 (billions of gallons) 2002 2,130 2003 2,800 2004 3,400 2005 3,904 2007 13,429 Projected capacity (2) The Renewable Fuel Association Figures on subsidies and industry profits are hard to come by, but there is no shortage of experts who say the industry exists on subsidies. One very credible report was done by David Pimentel, professor of ecology and agriculture at Cornell, and Tad W. Patzek, professor of civil and environmental engineering at Berkley, a detailed analysis of the energy input-yield ratios of producing ethanol from corn and “bio-diesel” from soybean and sunflower plants. Their report is published in Natural Resources
