On question 2: Oddly enough, you can make ethanol out of sugar cane, too -- and the process is cheaper than it is for corn. (There was an article in the paper about it this morning, coinciding with the Prez's visit to South America -- Brazil makes ethanol out of sugar cane.)
I have read that, at the moment, ethanol costs more petroleum to produce than the amount it replaces. Farming corn is a very petroleum-dense process.
On question 1, which I'm in no way qualified to answer: I don't know about visual differences, but I do know that deeply held traditions of that sort (A) won't be given up easily and (B) will become more deeply entrenched if persecution/attack is part of the mix. Having an "other" to point to is one easy way for a group to define itself: "Look, we aren't THEM!" You can see the same thing play out in the neoconservative Christian right in the United States; they ring the "we're persecuted" chimes all the time, because it gets the faithful to stick with them.
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branchandroot
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Date: 2007-03-09 05:14 pm (UTC)I have read that, at the moment, ethanol costs more petroleum to produce than the amount it replaces. Farming corn is a very petroleum-dense process.
On question 1, which I'm in no way qualified to answer: I don't know about visual differences, but I do know that deeply held traditions of that sort (A) won't be given up easily and (B) will become more deeply entrenched if persecution/attack is part of the mix. Having an "other" to point to is one easy way for a group to define itself: "Look, we aren't THEM!" You can see the same thing play out in the neoconservative Christian right in the United States; they ring the "we're persecuted" chimes all the time, because it gets the faithful to stick with them.