interview > lynd > lynd 11

Lynd 11 (1:13)
Topic(s): Biofuels / Future Transport
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Video Transcript

Corn prices are up substantially. And there is real concern about—real concern—about the draw on corn supply of ethanol plants that are already under construction. For example, my friends in Iowa tell me that if all the plants that have been proposed were built in Iowa—Iowa, the largest corn-producing state in the US, which is one of the largest corn-producing area— in fact, is the largest corn-producing area in the world—the state of Iowa would be a net importer of corn in order to feed its ethanol plants. People who are looking at the prices of hog feed get concerned.

I'm not saying these are irreconcilable issues, but I think— even the corn producers— In fact, I shouldn't say "even." The corn producers, whose business it has been to build these plants, for example, they're starting to look beyond corn and they're saying, "What's going to come next?" because they feel the sort of ceiling being approached with respect to corn ethanol.

So, you know, for some pretty simple supply-and-demand reasons, you can put limits on the contribution that corn ethanol is going to make, and those limit— that— those ceilings are much, much higher for cellulosic ethanol. And that's pretty well a consensus view at this point.