Philippine President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has announced a ‘National Fuel Ethanol’ program with plans to mandate ethanol blend E10 for vehicles and in this way reduce dependence on imported oil saving an estimated $1.8 billion. The ethanol will be made from sugarcane, corn, grain, sorghum, wheat and other agricultural crops, according to today’s Farm Online.
‘Fuel-injected feed fear’ was the headline on the front page of The Land newspaper on 25th August. Following the headline was a story suggesting beef lotfeeders, dairy, pig and poultry producers are expecting feed grain prices to increase as a consequence of Australia’s “fast expanding ethanol fuel lobby”. The article continued … A report by Canberra-based Centre for International Economics (CIE) puts present ethanol production (in Australia) at 130 to 140 million litres and lists 14 proposed ethanol plants, more than 80 of which would use grain as the base ingredient.
Is ethanol a “fuel of the future” as suggested by Arroyo. How will feedlots compete?
Jennifer Marohasy BSc PhD has worked in industry and government. She is currently researching a novel technique for long-range weather forecasting funded by the B. Macfie Family Foundation.