MyPeakOil.org

Brazil produces ethanol from sugar cane, which isn't a food crop in the same sense that corn is. Producing ethanol this way is also much cheaper and efficient than producing it through corn.

The food vs ethanol debate is a real one, when you consider that corn is the number one food ingredient in the United States (think corn syrup, starch, flour, etc.).

However, if the US stopped exporting corn to produce more fuel, most of the rest of the world would do just fine. Many developing nations could easily grow enought food to sustain themselves, and had been doing so for year before industrialized nations and the international organizations they support encouraged (forced) them to grow export crops for the world market, in the name of development. In steps Monsanto and other multinationals, and sells GMO sees to poor Indonesian farmers, so they can improve their crop yields and sell us cheap rice, pulling them out of poverty and into consumer happiness, right? Problem is, those GMO seeds need twice the water, pesticides and energy as the traditional varieties, and are less resistant to natural conditions as those varieties that have been naturally developed for hundreds of years. Oops! The world has plenty of food, its distribution and prioritization that are the problems.

The big issue is that corn-based ethanol is tremendously inefficient. Depending on how the analysis is done, energy inputs for growing, transporting and refining the corn can actually outweigh the energy output of ethanol. Agribusiness in the US is steeped in fossil fuels too, sort of ironic.

Cellulose ethanol may be part of the solution, as will hydrogen, and renewable energy. Energy efficiency is also a huge, overlooked component. Think about this: cars in the US today get about the same fuel mileage as they did in 1981. Ridiculous? I'd say so..