Very bad news...

[SomeSailor]

This can't end well...


Ethanol boom may fuel shortage of tequila Mexican farmers burning agave fields and replanting them with corn.

Updated: 2 hours, 28 minutes ago
MEXICO CITY - Mexican farmers are setting ablaze fields of blue agave, the cactus-like plant used to make the fiery spirit tequila, and resowing the land with corn as soaring U.S. ethanol demand pushes up prices.

The switch to corn will contribute to an expected scarcity of agave in coming years, with officials predicting that farmers will plant between 25 percent and 35 percent less agave this year to turn the land over to corn.

"Those growers are going after what pays best now," said Ismael Vicente Ramirez, head of agriculture at Mexico's Tequila Regulatory Council.

[Go Aweigh2452]

Well, the greeners will like it... look at all the worms that will now be saved from drowning...

[bbrnhart]

Doug,
You've got to lose the greener attitude. The company I work for is making millions off the ethanol craze. Craze is all it is. Bio Diesel Maybe. But there will be other alternatives. Ethanol is already looking at taking greenhouse gases CO and reducing CO put out by industrial sites by 75% to grow algaes from the CO to make ethanol. I don't like the ethanol deal any more than you but 10 years from now if we are green enough we may be burning 10 % gas and 90 % water. But only if we are green enough and all push the government in the right direction. We can call others greeners or move forward like responsible people. I'm 55 years old and am not affraid to change my ways yet. I enjoy power boating as well as the next guy and always will but there are alternate ways if we all want to go beyond big oil.

Father in law of two young mechanical engineers.

[Go Aweigh2452]

bbrnhart, it was meant as a joke... ;}

Hey, I use simple green does that help? (another joke...)

Somethings we can do without a lot of the green whine. For instance, I don't understand why I should buy a new car because it is more environmentally friendly... How much energy is used to build that car that gets maybe 1 or 2 miles better mileage than my present cars do. Wouldn't it be wiser to use your car as long as possible instead of buying new all the time? The amount of energy used to drive my cars are a lifetime less than the amount needed to build just one environmentally friendly car. So I think I am not contributing as much to the destruction of the environment as those that do buy new cars every couple years... in the name of environmentally friendly... (wink wink)

The preceeding was also a joke...

[Randygh]

I'm all for increasing domestic production of EtOH to help our farmers. If corn is the primary carbohydrate used to produce EtOH in this country, what happens to the corn stalk vegetation? I assume most of the plant itself would be plowed back into the ground or chopped to make silage. If there is increased production of silage, cattlemen, feedlot owners and dairymen will benefit. Greater supply should result in decreased cost in a free market. Increased beef and dairy herds result in increased bovine eructation. If more CH3 is produced by cattle, won't there be increased carbon emission into the atmosphere?

The carbon cycle is entirely dependant on solar energy and photosynthetic plants, algae, and phytoplanton. In fact, most of the oxygen we breath is produced by the oceans' phytoplanton, not the tropical rainforests as we have been led to believe. The most important thing we can do to prevent interference of this critical cycle is encourage all human kind to think globally, act locally and not eat alot of beans.