My Interview with David Pimentel
David Pimentel, a well respected professor of ecology and agricultural sciences at Cornell, is another well known skeptic of Ethanol. As you have read in my previous interview he has written persuading papers alongside Tad Patzek questioning the viability of ethanol as a fuel. I apologize for the repeated questions. 
More about David Pimentel
The Interview:
Konrad Imielinski: Knowing your skepticism on ethanol, which alternative fuel then has the biggest chance to replace oil?
David Pimentel: For the replacement of oil, we need CONSERVATION and then do as the South Africans, produce gasoline from our abundant coal –less than one-tenth the environmental pollution compared with corn ethanol.
KI: Major oil companies can easily enter the ethanol industry as it is technically simple to produce. Why haven’t they yet? What affect will it have on smaller companies such as Pacific Ethanol (PEIX) or Xethanol (XNL)? Will those smaller companies be squashed or acquired?
DP: Several oil companies are producing biofuels – BP and others.
KI: Based on your research, if true, that ethanol from corn takes more energy to produce than it delivers, why are major figures such as Vinod Khosla, Richard Branson, Robert Redford and President Bush still strong advocates for ethanol?
DP: Ethanol from corn and cellulose is an energy loser. Why do Dr. Patzek and I show loss of energy in ethanol production? Because we do not omit energy inputs like the pro-ethanol lobby does. Compare our data with that of the pro-ethanol lobby.
KI: Why can’t
DP:
KI: What is your view on cellulosic ethanol?
DP: Cellulosic ethanol production requires more energy than corn ethanol. See our 2005 paper.
KI: What is the future of ethanol stocks as they have been losing steam since their bubble like run?
DP: Dr. Patzek and I are convinced that when all the facts are scientifically and accurately investigated, that ethanol production will be abandoned!
Comments?
Keep the interviews coming...Ive read his books and like them a lot, but he sounds quite immature here "Dr. Patzek and I are convinced that when all the facts are scientifically and accurately investigated, that ethanol production will be abandoned!" Its not going to be that simple...
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I would like to invite Dr. Pimental and Dr. Patzek to visit a Brazilian mill and see how positive the energy balance in ethanol production in Brazil is. Also I would like to inform Dr. Pimental that in Brazil ethanol is not subsidized by government. It was in the past, but now industry is mature and don’t depends on subsidizes, the oil price is enough to make ethanol competitive. I recommend a book by Isaias de Carvalho Macedo, The energy of sugarcane.
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I'm curious who has paid you off to critize ethanol like a childess simplton because if the pay is good, I'll gladly jump on the anti-ethanol bandwagon.
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Even under the most optimistic scenario (e.g. USDA estimates of Net energy balance), ethanol could only displace 3% of our gasoline consumption if it were produced sustainably (Eaves and Eaves 2007) and 12% if it were produce with large quantities of fossil fuel inputs (Hill et al. 2006). Further, Eaves and Eaves (www.ssrn.com) show that ethanol would be an inherently more risky energy source than gasoline, due to large weather-induced variations in corn yields.
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The studies showing corn ethanol requires more energy than it takes are proved wrong by the simple economic fact that it's profitable to do the conversion, even in the absence of government subsidies.
Papers by the deep ecologists show that it is energy inefficient by saddling ethanol with energy costs that they do not saddle gasoline with. It also requires energy to make gasoline and move it around.
Re "more risky energy source than gasoline, due to large weather-induced variations in corn yields."
All it takes is a couple of missiles off the Iranian coast and this "more risky" statement will become obviously, in retrospect, silly. Oil is far more risky than corn. Anyone who doubts this should examine the price charts for oil and ethanol over the last 100 years.
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