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Abstract
Excerpt: During the past 10 years there has been a striking change in our agricultural and petroleum economies. In the 1930' s we were faced with large surpluses of agricultural commodities. These surpluses hanging over the market depressed prices to the point where frequently it was scarcely profitable for the farmer to grow his crops. The only large-scale outlet for huge surpluses of starchy crops then known was their conversion to alcohol for use as motor fuel. This was advocated not only by farm organizations but also by experts in the fields of economics and technology. But at the same time the petroleum industry was beset by overproduction of oil and gasoline, large fields of petroleum having been discovered. The petroleum refining industry vigorously opposed the recommendation of the agricultural groups concerning the desirability of conversion of starchy crops to synthetic liquid fuels, because of the debatable economic aspects then existing. As you may remember, the ensuing national debate frequently was tinged with overstatement. However, one significant objection of petroleum producers was on the proposed legal aspects of enforced use of relatively expensive alcohol, in blended fuels, when gasoline was much cheaper.