ethanol &laquo; WordPress.com Tag Feed http://wordpress.com/tag/ethanol/ Feed of posts on WordPress.com tagged "ethanol" Sat, 30 Aug 2008 08:15:53 +0000 http://wordpress.com/tags/ en <![CDATA[Crude Oil, week of Aug. 25th]]> http://zulukilo.wordpress.com/?p=1337 Fri, 29 Aug 2008 20:00:26 +0000 JR http://zulukilo.wordpress.com/?p=1337 Daily Oil Update

Friday, August 29th

Sarah Palin is named Republican VP. Tropical Storm/Hurricane Gustav makes little headway. Prices don't move much.

Bloomberg survey:

Eleven of 29 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg News, or 38 percent, said prices will increase through Sept. 5. Nine of the respondents, or 31 percent, said oil will decline and nine said prices will be little changed. Last week 55 percent expected futures to increase.

Crude oil finished up just 7 cents at $115.66. It averaged $116 for the week up just 0.5% from last week. I'd call that little changed, so it looks the Bloomberg survey prediction from last week was wrong.

Thursday, August 28th
Oil closed at $115.59. Democratic convention ends tonight. I successfully watched none of it and avoided all coverage of it in all forms of the news. Somebody will have to fill me in sometime about how it ushered in a new era of change and all that.

Wednesday, August 27th
EIA supply report released. Demand continues to be down from the same periods last year, but little changed from previous weeks. Oil closed at $118

Tuesday, August 26th
Hurricane talk begins concerning Gustav which is expected to enter the GOM oil producing and refining region. Oil closed at $116

Monday, August 25th
Beijing Olympics ended yesterday. World has basically forgotten about the conflict in Georgia already which seemed to have no impact on prices whatsoever despite widespread concern that the whole thing was about the BTC pipeline. Democratic convention starts today. Oil closed at $115.

The previous week's post is available here but I'm still filling parts in. The Bloomberg survey is there. A historical record in normal order is available in the tab "Crude Oil" at the top of the page.

... and this week's gratuitous T.Boone Pickens news.

]]> <![CDATA[Tequila Endangered by Biofuels]]> http://campbellstoves.wordpress.com/?p=87 Thu, 28 Aug 2008 15:48:48 +0000 campbellstoves http://campbellstoves.wordpress.com/?p=87 Tequila could become a thing of the past as Mexico appears to be turning its back on the cactus-like plant from which the country's national tipple is made, in favor of more profitable crops.

  • Spaghetti is the latest victim of biofuel boom
  • Biofuels 'could cause serious water shortages'
  • Biofuels: the sweet smell of power

    America's increasing demand for ethanol has caused global commodity prices to spiral upwards and encouraged farmers of blue agave, the origin of tequila, to switch to more profitable cash crops, such as wheat and corn.

     

    [caption id="attachment_91" align="alignnone" width="400" caption="Mexican farmer harvests agave for making tequila"][/caption]
     

    Mexican farmer harvesting agave which is used to make tequila

    Corn currently sells for a record 18 cents a pound as US motorists turn towards biofuels in an attempt to avoid the soaring cost of gasoline- now $4-5 a gallon.

    In contrast, agave, which was worth approximately 80 cents a pound six years ago, now sells for less than two cents.

    As a result, farmers have taken the difficult decision to let their agave crops burn to clear the way for more lucrative crops.

    One farmer, Miguel Ramirez, told USA Today: "I'm going to get out of agave completely. Corn is where the money is now."

    Mexican officials say farmers planted up to 35 per cent less agave in 2007 and expect the trend to continue this year.

    Agave takes six years to grow and therefore any shortage in supply cannot be properly filled when the realisation takes hold.  Raudel Lopez Sandoval, a Mexican farmer, said the boom-and-bust nature of the tequila industry was a problem.  Read the entire story

     

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