During a renewable energy roundtable discussion at Purdue University last week, the question was posed, why are we using food for fuel?
USDA Chief Economist Dr. Keith Collins had the chance to respond to the questioner with an important point.
“I first would say that I don’t think about using food for fuel. I think about using crops for fuel. I say that because this use has been an objective of agriculture for a long, long time. Henry Ford built a car out of plastic made from soybeans a long, long time ago. We’ve been trying to utilize agricultural commodities in industrial uses for decades precisely because the productive capacity of American agriculture has been so great. It’s often overwhelmed demand and created lower prices. That’s why we have this elaborate system of price and income support programs at USDA. So it’s not a new thing to use crops for fuel.”
Dr. Collins was one of several panelists on that roundtable. In the photo from Purdue’s Ag Communications, Collins is flanked by two Purdue professors – Dr. Bernie Tao, who’s a professor in agriculture and biological engineering and holds the Indiana Soybean Alliance chair for New Uses of Soybeans, and Dr. Michael Ladisch, distinguished professor of Agriculture and Biological Engineering, and the director of the Laboratory for Renewable Resource Engineering. Both noted that important research is being done now at Purdue and other universities to find new crops that can be used for renewable energy sources.
Read the full transcript of the roundtable, which also included Secretary of Agriculture Mike Johanns, Purdue University President Martin Jischke, Purdue Dean of Agriculture Randy Woodson, Indiana Director of Agriculture Andy Miller, USDA Under Secretary for Rural Development Tom Dorr and Renewable Fuels Association President Bob Dinneen.
Rick Wagoner, Chairman and CEO, General Motors Corporation said that flex fuel vehicles offer the best opportunity right now for America to lessen its dependence on foreign oil. “There are millions on the road today. As a group, we’ve agreed to double our production by the year 2010, and then have 50 percent of our production E85-capable by the year 2012.”
Vegetable oil converted to motor-vehicle fuel is considered a biodiesel, which is taxable under state law, said Meredith Helgerson, spokeswoman for the Revenue Department.
Ironically, this news comes after the 
Montreal, Canada will run its entire bus fleet on biodiesel by 2008 and will buy eight hybrid buses to test in the city’s cold climate.
All Société de transport de Montréal (STM) buses will run on biodiesel fuel by 2008, and the transition should be fairly inexpensive, said president Claude Trudel.
Seattle-based Imperium Renewables, ready to put the country’s largest biodiesel plant into operation and holder of the record for investment in a biodiesel company (see my posts on 
The official name for Saturday’s IndyCar Series opener may have been the XM Satellite Radio Indy 300, but on 
Here’s the winner of the first Indy car race of the year, Dan Wheldon. It’s the third time in a row that Dan has won the race. He did it in dominating fashion too and afterward said it was a lot of fun running the race.
The Team Ethanol car driven by Jeff Simmons is out of the race after what looked like a slide coming out of a turn which turned the car around and then two other cars crashed into it. Fortunately no one was seriously hurt. In fact, they just reported that all three drivers have been assessed and released, so they’re okay.
Here’s Jeff Simmons in the Ethanol Car on the opening lap of the race tonight.
This year the IRL is giving new meaning to the “green flag.” The official green flag has the ethanol logo.