Food vs. Fuel

Abstract

The long lines of motorists waiting for gasoline in the 1970s sent shock waves through the American public. In the United States big cars were part of the national way of life. We were used to driving wherever and whenever we wanted. Gasoline was cheap. The rest of the world taxed gasoline very heavily, thereby encouraging the development of small fuel-efficient cars. In the early 1970s, a group of countries formed a cartel called the “Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries” (OPEC), and raised the price of crude oil by a factor of 10–15. The search for alternative fuels began in earnest. One of the solutions was “gasohol,” a blend of 10% ethyl alcohol (ethanol) and 90% gasoline. The ethanol could be produced from the large surpluses of corn available in the United States. In 1980, Congress passed legislation calling for production of 500 million gallons of ethanol for fuel in 1981, one billion gallons in 1982, rising to 10 billion gallons in 1990. The 1990 goal would have required about 100 million tons of corn, which is slightly less than half of the 1982 corn crop (210 million tons). This did not happen and, and we may be thankful that it didn’t, since it would have raised the cost of food.