by Mona Gallagher

Created on: December 30, 2008

Twenty years ago, using corn to make ethanol probably seemed like a good idea, but today, technology has surpassed ethanol making it look like a failed experiment. Ethanol is not energy efficient and it can't be piped like other fuel because of contamination issues, so fossil fuels must be used in the transportation as well as in production of ethanol.

What is the pay back? "According to the pro-corn-ethanol US Dept. of Agriculture, 2006 ethanol production was enough for 1.5% oil

independence, and by 2017, we will max out at 3.7%."

The oil bubble burst recently sending gasoline prices and corn prices down, but ethanol plants are still processing corn bought at the high-end price of $6 per bushel. They're in financial trouble and two plants will shut down if they can't find finances to continue production. Ethanol already receives $17 billion in alternative energy government subsidies and they're in line for a bailout.

Corn production is up and so are food prices. The UN predicts a global food shortage because of weather disturbances and global warming, also known as climate change, is given as a reason for development of biofuels like corn ethanol. Global warming is becoming a non-issue as many scientists are demonstrating in weather graphs.

The production costs, the fossil fuels needed to produce ethanol, and the croplands being used for fuel instead of food plus the billions of dollars paid in subsidies do not offer a viable payback for the production of ethanol.

Ethanol is going away anytime soon.

Barack Obama is pro-ethanol and we shouldn't look for the end of corn ethanol production in the next few years. In fact Congress just approved a new farm bill that will give biofuels more revenue.

Tom Daschle (newly appointed Secretary of Health and Human services.) serves on the boards of three ethanol companies. He traveled through the corn state of Iowa with Obama several times during the campaign.

Former Iowa governor Tom Vilsack is Obama's pick to be the 30th Secretary of Agriculture and is a strong proponent of biofuels and corn ethanol. That makes sense because his state receives government subsidies.

With the automakers bailout and now the corn ethanol industry needing a bailout, I think we can expect biofuels to hang around. It's an interesting prospect. How will the carmakers and ethanol industries dovetail their efforts to produce better mileage automobiles.

Are there better alternatives?

1. Hydrogen can be used in a modified internal combustion engine, or via fuel

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