ethanol

Brent Yacobucci and Jasper Womach, U. S. Congressional Research Service. April 2003.

(Uncorrected Proof). (Abstract). Tad Patzek, forthcoming in Environment, Development and Sustainability, June 2003.

David Pimental, Natural Resources Research, June 2003.

Tad Patzek.  Critical Reviews in Plant Sciences, 2004.  Web version of article linked to here updated most recently in May 2005.  Detailed review (100 pages) of the corn-ethanol fuel cycle concludes that production is a net loser from both an energy and an environmental perspective. 

This article provides a detailed and interesting history of the origins of US ethanol subsidies and ethanol promotion. It should be read in full. We were happy that our work on ethanol subsidies was useful in the write-up as well:

...More corn for ethanol producers, of course, means less for livestock. Ranchers in wide-open Western states and pig farmers in the rural stretches of the South and Midwest are finding their businesses slammed by policies cooked up in Washington.

Hitch says the feedstock that's primarily made from corn is the single biggest expense for his business. As corn costs have doubled, meat packers and processors like Tyson Foods (TSN) and Smithfield Foods (SFD) have to pay more for the animals they buy.

References Earth Track's detailed 2006 review of US biofuel subsidies published by the IISD: