Are Biofuels Still Economically Feasible?

thefickler writes "With falling gas prices, and the end of capitalism as we know it (otherwise known as the credit crisis), the biofuels industry is not looking as viable as it once was. Indeed biofuel production has fallen well short of expectations, with biofuel companies closing down or reducing production capacity. It appears that the industry's only hope is government support."

Comments

Re:They never were

[compro01]

Corn is not the only way to make ethanol. There are far better ways. Just look at how many different sources you can make drinking alcohol from. Ethanol is the same thing, just distilled to 200 proof.

you got whiskey (corn), rum (sugar, and you can grow sugar beets just fine in most of the US), wine (grapes or practically any fruit or berry. France actually is doing this with a lot of their surplus wine.), sake (rice), vodka (grains, potatoes), etc. All of those are potential fuel ethanol sources.

Re:Are the alternatives economically viable?

[MidnightBrewer]

You might want to watch the story of Brazil's petroleum independence and almost total conversion to ethanol:

http://current.com/items/89112645/the_world_s_sugar_daddy.htm