The first speaker here at the Transition To A Bio Economy conference is Michael Wetzstein, University of Georgia. His talk deals with two issues. One is on price volatility and the other is on food and fuel.

Michael says that gas price volatility can be avoided with fuel diversification by blending renewable fuels with fossil fuels. That’s what his research shows. He also suggests that we could relax gas taxes and reduce the tariff on the importation of Brazilian ethanol.

Another part of his research is on food and fuel and to answer the question of “Is there a direct link between the volatility of ethanol production and the volatility of corn prices. His research has found that there is a link but not a persistent or long lasting one. In fact, in the long run he says there is no direct link.

The bottom line he says is to produce more food.

You can listen to my interview with Michael here: [audio:http://www.zimmcomm.biz/farm-foundation/ff-bio-08-wetzstein.mp3]

You can also download the interview using this link (mp3).

I’m also uploading pictures to a photo album which you can feel free to use if you’d like: Transition To A Bio Economy Photo Album