Neither Renewable Nor Reliable
4 Pages Posted: 2 Nov 2007
Abstract
If ethanol were to be produced in a truly sustainable manner, it would take all the corn in the United States to displace about 3.5 percent of our gasoline consumption. Furthermore, ethanol would not necessarily be a more reliable source of fuel. By displacing gasoline with ethanol, we are displacing geo-political risk with yield risk, and historical corn yields have been about twice as volatile as oil imports.
Keywords: renewable resources, reliable resources, gasoline, ethanol, corn, sustainable energy, james eaves, stephen eaves, energy policy, USDA, fuel, eco-friendly
JEL Classification: Q18, Q21, Q26, Q28, Q31, Q32, Q33, Q38, Q41, Q42
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation