Today in Biofuels Opinion: US Energy Secretary says ethanol contributes to rising corn prices, “we must also pursue diversity in our biofuels”

The president of the American Farm Bureau Federation writes in the Hartford Courant: “The popular misconception that increased usage of corn for ethanol production is the only factor driving higher food prices is just that — a misconception….Global demand for U.S. agricultural products has increased significantly over the past several years….Even though corn prices for the current marketing year are up $1 per bushel from last, corn exports are projected to increase by 200 million bushels. Rising exports in the face of rising prices is an indicator of very strong demand.

Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman told the Wall Street Journal on Friday that corn ethanol contributed to higher food prices. “As we pursue diversity in our overall energy mix, we must also pursue diversity in our biofuels,” Mr. Bodman said at a conference in Alexandria, Va. “This means moving away gradually from ethanol produced from foodstocks like corn…The reason that cellulosic fuels like ethanol are not on the market in large volumes is not because we don’t know how to make it in commercial quantities. The production process at present is too complex and too costly, but I am confident that we can find the way forward.”

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