Sometimes I wonder if things like these
happen for ignorance or for corruption!
By Marianne Stigset
May 24 (Bloomberg) -- Governments should favor
producing ethanol from sugar not corn and existing
policies on alternative fuels often ``lack clear
understanding and strategy,''
the International Energy Agency said.
Twice as much ethanol can be produced from a hectare of
sugar cane than the same area of corn, said Pierpaolo Cazzola, an
energy and transport analyst with the Paris-based IEA, an energy
policy adviser to 26 industrialized nations. Policies promoting
corn have been more about energy security and supporting farmers
than the environment, he said.
``Some of these policies are questionable, such as the
policy of corn ethanol in the U.S.,'' Cazzola said today at a
F.O. Licht conference on biofuels in Seville, Spain. ``Are
consumers benefiting from these kind of policies?''
The 27-nation European Union wants biofuels such as ethanol
to account for 5.75 percent of transport fuel by 2010 and 10
percent by 2020. U.S. President George W. Bush wants to increase
U.S. ethanol consumption by raising the target for renewable-fuel
use almost fivefold to 35 billion gallons a year by 2017.
Biofuels, made from crops such as sugar cane, grains and
plant oils, can cut countries' dependence on fossil fuels such as
crude oil, curb emissions of greenhouse gases blamed for global
warming, reduce solid wastes and provide economic growth to rural
areas, Cazzola said.
``But you can't talk about ethanol from sugar in the same
way as you talk about ethanol from grain,'' he added.
Cereals such as corn and wheat typically yield between 2,000
liters and 3,000 liters of ethanol per hectare (2.47 acres),
according to the IEA. With sugar cane, the figure rises to about
6,000 liters.
Corn Jumps
Promoting corn as a feedstock contributed to an 81 percent
jump in prices for the grain on the Chicago Board of Trade last
year, the biggest annual increase in more than three decades.
``The best prospects are for sugar cane ethanol, because of
the economics of it,'' said Cazzola. ``Crops for biodiesel demand
more than three times as much land as sugar cane used for ethanol
production to deliver the same amount of energy.''
Converting land to grow crops for use in biofuels in itself
releases carbon from the soil, the analyst said. Those emissions
are compensated for much quicker with sugar cane because the
ethanol produced represents a greater cut in subsequent emissions
than corn-derived ethanol, he added.
Production of biofuels should also be encouraged by removing
trade-distorting tariffs, he said.
``There are currently significant barriers to trade,'' said
Cazzola. ``Bilateral agreements are needed to overcome the
problems.''
producing ethanol from sugar not corn and existing
policies on alternative fuels often ``lack clear
understanding and strategy,''
the International Energy Agency said.
Twice as much ethanol can be produced from a hectare of
sugar cane than the same area of corn, said Pierpaolo Cazzola, an
energy and transport analyst with the Paris-based IEA, an energy
policy adviser to 26 industrialized nations. Policies promoting
corn have been more about energy security and supporting farmers
than the environment, he said.
``Some of these policies are questionable, such as the
policy of corn ethanol in the U.S.,'' Cazzola said today at a
F.O. Licht conference on biofuels in Seville, Spain. ``Are
consumers benefiting from these kind of policies?''
The 27-nation European Union wants biofuels such as ethanol
to account for 5.75 percent of transport fuel by 2010 and 10
percent by 2020. U.S. President George W. Bush wants to increase
U.S. ethanol consumption by raising the target for renewable-fuel
use almost fivefold to 35 billion gallons a year by 2017.
Biofuels, made from crops such as sugar cane, grains and
plant oils, can cut countries' dependence on fossil fuels such as
crude oil, curb emissions of greenhouse gases blamed for global
warming, reduce solid wastes and provide economic growth to rural
areas, Cazzola said.
``But you can't talk about ethanol from sugar in the same
way as you talk about ethanol from grain,'' he added.
Cereals such as corn and wheat typically yield between 2,000
liters and 3,000 liters of ethanol per hectare (2.47 acres),
according to the IEA. With sugar cane, the figure rises to about
6,000 liters.
Corn Jumps
Promoting corn as a feedstock contributed to an 81 percent
jump in prices for the grain on the Chicago Board of Trade last
year, the biggest annual increase in more than three decades.
``The best prospects are for sugar cane ethanol, because of
the economics of it,'' said Cazzola. ``Crops for biodiesel demand
more than three times as much land as sugar cane used for ethanol
production to deliver the same amount of energy.''
Converting land to grow crops for use in biofuels in itself
releases carbon from the soil, the analyst said. Those emissions
are compensated for much quicker with sugar cane because the
ethanol produced represents a greater cut in subsequent emissions
than corn-derived ethanol, he added.
Production of biofuels should also be encouraged by removing
trade-distorting tariffs, he said.
``There are currently significant barriers to trade,'' said
Cazzola. ``Bilateral agreements are needed to overcome the
problems.''
