Today in Biofuels Opinion: “If we don’t get our renewable energy act together soon, we may risk becoming mired in stagnation and recession like Britain after World War II.”

Biofuels Digest special correspondent Joelle Brink: “I must admit my jaw drops when US pundits want to eliminate biofuels because of food constraints. India, a democracy with one quarter the land mass of the US and a population of a billion plus, has managed to produce a thriving biofuels industry without endangering its food security, and this with a population that is only 20 percent vegetarian.

In fact a high level study recently found that petroleum consumption by farm and transportation equipment was the chief factor responsible for food price inflation. Nor is India trading off solar and wind power for biofuels.

Tulsi Tanti’s Suzlon Wind Power is now a major player not only in India but worldwide. And thanks to government incentives, PV and solar thermal panels are becoming commonplace even in villages.  Last month in Europe, Tata Motors launched a full size electric car with a range of 124 miles. As an American, I am very sorry to say this, but increasingly it is we who look like a developing country. If we don’t get our renewable energy act together soon, we may risk becoming mired in stagnation and recession like Britain after World War II.”

From InsideFutures.com: “The ethanol market this week will focus on any news about when the 12 idled ethanol plants formerly owned by VeraSun will come back on line, blender demand, which should improve as the premium of ethanol versus gasoline fell another 3 cents last week, and corn prices where the market is carefully watching spring weather and farmer planting intentions. Those 12 idled VeraSun plants have an annual capacity of 1.2 billion gallons, which is up to 60% of the overall idle U.S. capacity of more than 2 billion gallons.”

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