The U.S. Secretaries of Agriculture and Energy sent a letter to Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee Chairman Jeff Bingaman (D-NM) answering questions about biofuels production and food prices.
In the joint letter, Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman and Agriculture Secretary Ed Schafer noted the complexity of the food and fuel pricing issues and cautioned the senator “against hasty judgments driven by highly questionable, agenda-driven calculations, some of which have been featured prominently in the popular press.”
“It is clear, however, that biofuels are already moderating gasoline prices,” they state in the letter. “That impact is likely to grow substantially as more biofuels come to market.”
The secretaries answered six specific questions related to the production of ethanol and biodiesel and the price of both food and fuel. Regarding food, they responded that biofuels accounted for approximately 3-4 percent of the overall rise in retail food prices domestically and as much as five percent globally. They note the many other factors contributing to higher commodity prices, including increased demand for food; lowered production and reduced stocks due to weather; export restrictions and – record prices for gasoline and diesel fuel that have increased “the costs of producing, transporting, and processing food products.”
As for fuel prices, the secretaries said, “We estimate that, if we had not been blending ethanol into gasoline, gasoline prices would be between 20 cents per gallon to 35 cents per gallon higher.”
Officials with the 
Moving to second generation ethanol production is obviously a priority for the nation’s ethanol producers.
American motorists are rethinking their driving habits. That is, according to a 
The 8th race of the 2008 IndyCar racing season is less than two weeks away. IndyCar Drivers hit the track for the 2008 Iowa Corn Indy 250 Sunday June 22nd. The track buzz isn’t just about racing though. The Ethanol Promotion and Information Council has a handful of activities set up for race weekend. 
Solazyme is about to make history as the first algae-biodiesel maker to meet stringent standards that diesel fuel must meet.
The leaders from the two biggest biofuels groups in the country are countering what they term as a smear campaign against the benefits of biodiesel and ethanol by the nation’s grocers.
“With oil prices up more than 100 percent in the last 12 months, it is wrongheaded for groups to attack biofuels which represent one of the few components of US energy policy that is actually working. Biofuels are currently contributing over 8 billion gallons of fuel to our fuel supply, without which fuel prices, and consequently food prices, would be even higher than they already are.”
“It’s time for some truth in advertising from the world’s largest food processors. Instead of smearing American farmers and the only fuel that is backing out foreign oil, why aren’t GMA and its allies pointing to the skyrocketing price of oil as the main cause of increasing food prices and the main reason American’s have less to spend.
After a long primary season, the presumptive Democratic and Republican nominees for president continue to expend plenty of hot air… and probably will continue to do so through Election Day in November. Now, maybe some of that wind will actually power their conventions.
Xcel said the two, week-long conventions combined would use about 3,000-megawatt hours of power. The donated wind power is worth about $30,000, a utility spokesman said.
As we last left the Earthrace, a boat powered by 100 percent biodiesel trying to set a world record for circumnavigating the globe, she was limping into Singapore after hitting some debris near Palau and damaging a prop.