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Biodeisel Fuel, Energy Savings, Oil Prices, Ingenuity, Farmers’ Almanac Television
A couple of years ago, Farmers’ Almanac Television aired a segment on biodiesel fuels – growing soy and other crops to power trucks and cars. By definition, biodiesel is a non petroleum, alternative fuel that comes from 100% renewable sources. At the time, I received a blistering e-mail from a woman who chastised us for the segment; she was worried about what this would do to food prices. Fast forward two years and, sure enough, soy, corn and other crops are being grown for fuel and there are plenty of pros and cons. For the first time in a long time farmers are making money but at what cost. If you have a chance, go to our home page www.farmersalmanac.com and read about biodiesel fuels. You can also watch the original segment that aired in 2006 at www.farmersalmanac.com/video/featured-stories/biodiesel.
Over the holiday weekend, I spoke with a gentleman from North Carolina who owns a chain of truck stops. He recently built a biodiesel fuel plant and has engaged 20 farmers to grow crops to turn into fuel for his truck stops. Thinking about the “lecture” I’d received earlier, I asked what the farmers had been growing before. The answer was “tobacco.” With the decline in smoking, growing other crops has become a necessity for tobacco growers. Growing crops for biofuels was a golden opportunity for those farmers. As the push for new fuels continues, so will the number of ways we tackle the problem.
Generally speaking, I don’t have tremendous faith in our government to solve all problems, but there is no question in my mind that federal intervention is needed to control oil prices. While I recognize that world demand affects prices, speculation has clearly run amok. On June 1, the media reported it was the beginning of the hurricane season and predicted that just one major storm could disrupt the oil supply. Even though there have so far been no hurricane strikes, this manufactured fear resulted in a jump in gas prices that day. Within the last week, home heating oil prices jumped from $4.49/gallon to $4.59/gallon. People currently hoping to lock in a price for next winter in Maine are looking at paying $4.72/gallon. And these high prices persist despite two days of dropping oil barrel prices, a decrease in the number of miles being driven by Americans, and the fact that there is no demand for heating oil now. Speculations seems to be heading in one direction only: straight up.
If there is any silver lining to all of this, it’s that the high cost of fuel will spark the kinds of ingenuity that will eventually wean us off of our dependence to foreign oil. Let’s hope!
The type of winter we have – frigid, average, or mild – will either exacerbate the problem or offer relief. We’ll be issuing our winter predictions later this summer. Stay tuned!
Peter Geiger is the Editor of the Farmers' Almanac. 
If you notice a hole in the upper left-hand corner of your Farmers' Almanac, don't return it to the store! That hole isn't a defect; it's a part of history. Starting with the first edition of the Farmers' Almanac in 1818, readers used to nail holes into the corners to hang it up in their homes, barns, and outhouses (to provide both reading material and toilet paper). In 1910, the Almanac's publishers began pre-drilling holes in the corners to make it even easier for readers to keep all of that invaluable information (and paper) handy.
