Ethanol’s drawbacks
Worried about America’s addiction to foreign oil, President George W. Bush is pushing home-made moonshine instead.
Ethanol
Resources
Political pressure keeps ethanol cash flowing
The biofuel industry is set to motor on, with backing from its congressional and corporate friends despite its six biggest public companies having lost more than $8.7bn in market value in the past three years alone
Investors suffer as US ethanol boom dries up
The likes of Microsoft’s Bill Gates are sitting on billions of dollars in losses after buying into the corn-based ethanol industry that George W. Bush embraced as the answer to US energy woes
Analysis: From hope to husk
Billed as a solution to farm finances, air pollution and US oil security all at once, corn ethanol has instead undergone a rapid boom and bust
Related content and features
Multimedia
Interactive feature: Ethanol boom and bust
Track the mix of politics and business interests that led to a boom in ethanol investment which burnt some savvy investors
Interactive feature: Ethanol fever
Audio slideshow: How the biofuel transformed the fortunes of the Midwest
Comment and analysis
Food or fuel? The policy choice becomes agonising
The US and Europe could open their markets to more ethanol from Brazil, where the impact on agriculture would be small, writes Ed Crooks
