Ethanol is big bucks for agri-biz
Ethanol production will continue to expand as fast as private-sector funding can construct capacity. The Energy Policy Act mandates a goal of seven billions gallons of domestic ethanol use by 2010.
But diversion of corn to ethanol production is having a big impact on the meat and poultry industries. Heavily subsidized, highly centralized ethanol production plants may introduce damaging increases in the price of corn and soybeans. Corn prices are now $4.20 a bushel up from $2.19 in September.
Cattle feedlots and poultry houses are in a hurry to make use of the lower priced waste of ethanol production, the leftover material known as dried distillers grain, to hedge against the price increases as crops are diverted toward ethanol. The high fat content of distillers grains may introduce a challenging nutritional frontier around the world.
Biodiesel is smaller scale
Although less attention is being paid to lower-tech, smaller scale decentralized energy production from vegetable oils, biodiesel has a role to play as well – as much as one billion gallons by 2012. Oil grain farmers are speeding to install fuel production equipment to add value and profit to their oil crops.
Many smaller scale operations that convert manure into fuel are already under construction. Plus biodiesel demand will directly benefit packers and processors. Animal fat fuel stocks from tallow and rendered chicken fat could account for one-half of the biodiesel volume.
Move over Big Oil
This is a fully automatic biofuel plant — in a shipping container — made by BioKing in Holland which is now shipping about 25 farm-sized biodiesel manufacturing units a week. BioKing proudly asserts they will be a world leader in biofuel production machinery.
Dan Murphy at Meatingplace.com reports,
“Ethanol production delivers less net energy than biodiesel, compromises the economics of feed production and would require hugely expensive conversion to and/or manufacturing of millions of flex fuel automobiles to fully rationalize its usage.
On the other hand, biodiesel arguably has a greater positive impact on air quality and can be deployed not only across the entire transportation sector but in construction and manufacturing as well.
Most importantly, biodiesel helps not hurts industry’s bottom line. It affords a new technology to sustain renewable, domestic energy production and support small-scale businesses that would strengthen the viability of the agricultural areas and rural communities upon which meat and poultry production depends.”
Is Kitchen Table Fuel next?
Ecotec Resources UK announced the launch of small scale biodiesel reactors known as the ETRUK. How much fat to fuel your SUV?
Risk of higher prices and inflation
Downstream are rising consumer prices for soap, shampoo, cosmetics, processed food, ‘fast food’, even ‘instant noodles’, folding higher costs throughout the global economy.
Converting the infrastructure of energy…
now that’s economic backbone!