There is a dirty little truth about ethanol that I've known for a while, but only because I've got a friend in the business:  ethanol distilled from corn has a 1.3/1 energy ratio.  That is almost no return.  Sugar Cane, meanwhile, has a 8/1 return.  Why, then, do we use corn to distill ethanol?  Because Archer Daniels Midland says so.

 

Read this article.  It is enlightening and illustrative of how far we have to go as a nation before our attitude towards energy production and consumption is ready to change.

Putin is so predictable.  This will only continue to worsen as he expands his ties with Iran, Zimbabwe, Venezuela, and anybody else he can find to join his little coven of desperate despots.   

Well this isn't a good sign.  The 6,000 year time-span is concerning.