Lately it was real estate: Could it be that the next bubble, currently inflating, is ethanol? The new energy bill, which heavily subsidizes corn, is trumpeted as a means of stopping our dependence on foreign oil, but if the entire corn production of the U.S. were used for ethanol, it would still supply only about 12 percent of our gasoline needs.

Before becoming too exuberant about the wonders of ethanol, we should consider the downside: Taking cropland out of food production to make ethanol will raise prices for most food items on our shopping lists. The impact will be global: In 2007, U.S. food-aid dollars already bought only half as much food as in 2000, according to the Department of Agriculture, largely because of ethanol pressure on grain markets.

As corn is cropped continually, the environment will be degraded from soil erosion and water pollution, already a severe problem. Ethanol is not free energy from the sun: Large amounts of energy are used to supply fertilizer, pesticides, watering, harvesting, and drying. Burning a gallon of ethanol delivers only slightly more energy than it takes to produce.

Cellulosic ethanol technology, which would use cheaper feedstocks, is unproven and has all the drawbacks of corn ethanol, though in less-severe form.

The biofuel mania must be replaced by focusing private investment capital and government subsidies (presently more than 50 cents a gallon on ethanol) on sustainable, environmentally sound wind, solar, geothermal and tidal energy sources.

Eugene Clifford

Southwest Harbor