The point of CRP land is important to this issue. I’ll accept the 34 million acre figure.
A lot of marginal farm land could be used to produce crops suitable for biodiesel.
As it was explained to me– the production of biodiesel has an inherent advantage over ethanol– the energy input to produce the fuel.
Biodiesel is produced by squeezing the oil from the seed. Ethanol requires distilling– which requires more energy be used.
This by no means will solve our energy problem. But weaning ourselves off ME oil should be a national priority– and a combination of alternative fuels, nuclear energy and even wind and solar should be encouraged.
Granted, any discussion about these alternatives should be based on ACTUAL costs of production– then decide which sources make sense to subsidize.
