President Bush to push ethanol

President Bush to push ethanol

In his State of the Union address tonight, President Bush is expected to call for a doubling of ethanol use in gasoline.

This is a much delayed but very important step by the Administration to recognize that global warming has become a serious problem.

It comes after ten major companies — from General Electric to Dupont and PG&E — launched an initiative yesterday to push for mandatory federal emission controls, something Bush is unlikely to support…. Continue Reading

Ethanol use causing corn shortages, spiking price of tortillas

Ethanol use causing corn shortages, spiking price of tortillas

Tortilla prices are going up, causing hardship for the poor in Mexico, apparently because of all the use of ethanol in the U.S.

The U.S. is making lots of ethanol out of corn, to use as an alternative to gasoline — creating a shortage of corn for people wanting to make tortillas. Indeed, there some 100 more ethanol plants being planned, which will eat up even more corn — and this comes despite doubts about whether… Continue Reading

iPhone — will kill video start-ups, but would take time

iPhone — will kill video start-ups, but would take time

The buzz about the iPhone loudens.

An iPod that is wirelessly enabled — or possibly even WiFi-enabled, would allow people to download all sorts of video and music on the fly, and put the kibosh on lots of start-ups trying to do the same thing.

However, Apple’s hammer will take some time to fall, because young people already have hundreds of millions of their own phones. Here’s a good summary of the latest on the… Continue Reading