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Non-Tech : $2 or higher gas - Can ethanol make a comeback? -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Edscharp who wrote (1298)	6/1/2006 2:35:04 PM
From: xcentral1	Respond to of 2801

I like EBOF - Earth Biofuels, Inc., (biodiesel) - right here! Farm jobs - Green Fuel - Gov't Grants .... But lately, every time someone announces their entrance or expansion into Biofuels or the other related fuel fields, EBOF gets hit a bit. ( I say it's a BUY today) Unlike FUTURE plans... Willie is already in motion AND w/ marketing clout beyond any other competitive effort or Gov't office. EBOF's "distribution plan" includes rail, retail outlets and truck fleets covered w/ Willie banners from SkinzWraps, Inc. (Pink Sheets:SKZW). Rob Reed, Director of Communications for Earth Biofuels, Inc. ..."We're getting ready to launch an entire fleet of tanker trucks to deliver BioWillie-brand biodiesel to stations in Texas, Mississippi, and Oklahoma. Wrapping these rigs with Willie Nelson's image and our biodiesel message is key to the Earth Biofuels marketing effort both with truckers and everyday consumers." Besides - none of this will matter if the public chooses status quo.. The hardest part of new product retail sales is persuading consumers to change their habits! I think that Willie and crew have the advantage w/enough trust already established w/in their focus markets (our own national truckers etc etc) to fly right through ... after all - he is about as "Apple Pie" as it gets! If EBOF can help us get into alternative fuels sooner than later - I say let's do it!!

To: Edscharp who wrote (1298)	6/1/2006 2:47:22 PM
From: TimF	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 2801

That, and the sheer number of jobs created by an ethanol economy and the resulting ethanol infrastructure will more than make up for our tax dollars 'lost' to temporary subsidies. That assertion seems rather questionable to me. Well in one sense it is true, the subsidies might not directly cause many people to lose jobs, but the tax money to pay for them does have a negative effect. Ethanol is one of the few issues that almost everybody can agree on (oil companies excluded). It's good for our economy, our security, our ecology, good for farmers, good for agriculture, good for jobs, transportation industry, huge for ethanol refiners, consumers, and is eminently doable. I'm not sure ethanol, particularly ethanol from corn, becoming a large part of our fuel supply is such an unmitigated good thing. I don't think we can devote enough land to grow ethanol to replace the majority of the gasoline we use, and producing and burning ethanol has its own environmental/ecological problems. It would certainly be good for corn farmers and ethanol refiners. But I don't think I can agree with the rest of your statement. Ethanol could play a bigger role but I don't think it can play a dominant role. If you want to encourage the growth of ethanol use as a fuel I'd start with repealing the tariff (and any other barriers if there are any) on ethanol imports. I'm also wary of higher subsidies even as an interim measure. Such interim or temporary measures often seem to go on forever. For example a tax on phone calls that was supposed to be a temporary measure to fund the Spanish American War was just repealed.

To: Edscharp who wrote (1298)	6/2/2006 12:29:19 PM
From: elmatador	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 2801

Brazil and Japan will sign in October a pact presaging Japanese investments here of $1.29 billion to produce sugar-based ethanol fuel as well as biodiesel, the Brazilian Agriculture Ministry announced Thursday. Brazil and Japan to sign ethanol deal Rio de Janeiro.– Brazil and Japan will sign in October a pact presaging Japanese investments here of $1.29 billion to produce sugar-based ethanol fuel as well as biodiesel, the Brazilian Agriculture Ministry announced Thursday. The Japan Bank for International Cooperation will provide the funds to finance the Brazilian Energy Agriculture Program, according to an official communique released by the ministry. "The investment of the resources must begin in April 2007," said Agriculture Minister Roberto Rodrigues after a meeting with representatives of the Japanese bank. Tokyo's decision to invest in biofuels in Brazil resulted from a proposal presented in the Japanese capital by Rodrigues in May 2004, the report noted. "I took to the JBIC the idea of agro-energy as a model for change in the manufacturing of liquid fuels," he said. Brazil is the world's main producer and exporter of ethanol derived from sugar cane. With an annual production exceeding 17 billion liters (4.4 billion gallons), the South American giant is also a huge user of the fuel in its transportation sector. Last year, Brazil exported 2.6 billion liters (685 million gallons) of ethanol, mainly to the United States and Europe. The government is also pushing a program to produce biodiesel, diesel fuel derived from oilseeds such as ricin, soybeans, sunflowers and palm. A study conducted by Brazilian and Japanese experts on the biofuel sector in Brazil and discussed on Thursday includes goals and strategies for the production and marketing of ethanol and biodiesel, the socio-economic impacts of those activities and the responsibilities of the public and private sectors in the matter. For Japan, the compensation for the investments will be the ability to replace imports of petroleum products with agricultural derivatives, a shift that is important in ecological terms and represents a beneficial diversification of that country's dependence on liquid fuels, Rodrigues said. A new Japanese law obliges fuel suppliers to include 3 percent ethanol in each liter of gasoline, a requirement that generates additional demand for the alcohol of 1.8 billion liters (475 million gallons) per year and has forced Tokyo to seek to guarantee itself supply sources.