Author Archives: Joe Doolen

My other related work this year: Botox for Incontinence? Believe It (Healthline.com) FDA Alert: Kellogg’s Recalls Mini-Wheats Due to Metal Risk (Yahoo! News) Will Solar Power Survive in the Free Market? We’ll See As Germany Cuts Its Solar Subsidies (Policy … Continue reading →

By Joseph Doolen West Nile Virus deaths in 2012 have more than tripled in the first few days of August, according to compiled news reports. As of July 31, only four deaths in the U.S. had been attributed to West … Continue reading →

“Dust Bowl” by Alexandre Hogue A growing pressure on American farmers to pack every acre with crops is now leading to a drastic increase in topsoil loss due to erosion. Erosion is an old problem, one that Americans thought they … Continue reading →

The Durban 17th Conference of the Parties (COP 17) finished up over this past weekend. The talks were supposed to end December 9, but were extended two days longer due to gridlock, making this the longest U.N. Conference on Climate … Continue reading →

\ I asked scientists and economists about sugarcane ethanol and whether it could out earn corn ethanol should the Volumetric Ethanol Excise Tax Credit (VEETC) expire at the end of 2011.  Without fail, a resounding “yes” was the answer. “Because … Continue reading →

  In 2009, one-third of U.S. corn was converted to ethanol.  According to Dr. David Pimentel of Cornell, this replaced a whopping 1.4 percent of our oil consumption.  This means that only 4.2% of our oil consumption would be replaced … Continue reading →

Corn is covering more and more land in the U.S. these days.  But corn stockpiles are plummeting. Only 7 percent of the U.S. corn crop went to make ethanol in 2001. That number rose to 39 percent in 2010 and … Continue reading →

Should the Volumetric Ethanol Excise Tax Credit (VEETC) be allowed to expire at the end of 2011, the scientific and economic consensus is that Brazilian sugarcane ethanol will be able to outcompete corn in the marketplace. “Everything that is good … Continue reading →

Alternative energy is a booming business in the United States. Mandates on blending of liquid biofuels into gasoline have spurred an explosive market. Most notably, the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) was initiated in the Energy Policy Act of 2005 under … Continue reading →