In 2008 Merrill Lynch in a report to their account holders said:

“On a global scale, biofuels are now the single largest contributor to world oil supply growth. We estimate that retail gasoline prices would be $21/bbl higher, on average, without the incremental biofuel supply.”

http://ethanolrfa.org/page/-/rfa-association-site/studies/MerrilLynchJune2008.pdf?nocdn=1

Since Oil was trading at around $110.00 in April of 2008 (rising from $103 at the beginning of April to $114 in the third week of April) (allowing at least six weeks of lead time to write and print the World Energy Weekly) that would mean Merrill Lynch was estimating that Ethanol was lowering the price of oil, on average, about 19%. In the Midwest that percentage would be 29% while on the East Coast it would be about 22% by Merrill Lynch’s estimate.

That was in 2008. We currently are producing quite a bit more ethanol than we did in 2008. It’s not surprising that Philip Verleger, economist and consultant to firms, governments, and individuals on energy and commodity markets ( http://www.pkverlegerllc.com/about/philip-k.-verleger/ ) has more recently estimated:

“the US renewable fuels program has cut annual consumer expenditures in 2013 between $700 billion and $2.6 trillion. This translates to consumers paying between $0.50 and $1.50 per gallon less for gasoline.”

http://www.ethanolrfa.org/page/-/rfa-association-site/studies/Commentary-Renew%20Fuels%20Legislation%20Cuts%20Crude%20Ps_Verleger_2013.09.23.pdf?nocdn=1

It produces pure methanol (drop in replacement, or feedstock, for gasoline) pure water and pure CO2 for the sodapop industry.

Oh, and the heat it generates is captured and it produces 10 MW of power, 5 days per week.

http://www.corebiofuel.com/biorefinery.html

Cheers, JBS

Not only that, it adds badly-needed profit to U.S. farmers and lower grade maize can be used.

The corn/ethanol subsidy ended on Jan 1, 2102.

Some big problems and misconceptions surround biofuels.

1) Corn is about the worst crop to use for biofuel, as it requres huge inputs of water, fertilizer and pesticides. Not only that, it requires lots of land management (tractor work). It is very costly to produce ethanol from corn.

2) Corn stover is a different matter. Using enzymes to break down the stover (the stalks, roots, and leaves of the corn plant) is showing great promise. And, if a farmer is going to grow corn or maize to feed his livestock — getting some extra cash for the stover is a great idea! Even the stover from corn grown for food can be easily utilized, as the whole plant is removed during harvesting by the combine.

3) Seperate from corn/maize stover equation. Corn is a terrible crop to use for biofuel production as it requires too many inputs. Which is why corn is referred to as a 1st generation biofuel crop just like sugar cane.

4) 2nd generation biofuel crops like Millettia grain or Jatropha trees have dramatically lower input costs and can be planted on marginal land, (read; non-food growing land) unlike corn or other food crops. Jatropha and Millettia are grown and used around the world for biofuel use. China has set aside a barren area the size of England for biofuel plantations. India has set aside 60 million hectares. Some of these areas are now barren land, which will become green land, with carefully tended millettia or camelina (grains) or Jatropha trees which live up to 50 years, sucking CO2 out of the air every day, just like any other tree.

5) 3rd generation biofuels such as algae and enzyme-assisted methanol look promising with some up-and-running plants already showing great results.

6) Just to reiterate. Corn is a terrible choice for biofuels. Corn could only work if given subsidies — although nowadays, being able to process the stover could help defray the heavy input costs. But corn requires waay too much water compared to Jatropha or algae and that is becoming an increasing problem.

In Brazil, 52% of the cars on the road run pure ethanol, which burns very clean and is easier on engines. Some engines run on diesel or biodiesel, while gasoline with up to 20% ethanol is used in older gasoline-engined cars.

Some links for you:

http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/10/11/us-usa-ethanol-reaction-idUSBRE99A0RS20131011

http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/10/11/us-epa-rfs-brazil-idUSBRE99A10M20131011

http://arabiangazette.com/generation-biofuels-making-solid-progress/

http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/john-brian-shannon/biofuel-oil_b_1214854.html

http://www.emerging-markets.com/biodiesel/

http://www.safug.org/assets/docs/biofuel-testing-summary.pdf

http://www.boeing.com/aboutus/environment/environment_report_10/3_biofuels_pg_2.html

http://www.corebiofuel.com/biorefinery.html