Clearing the Air Episode 3 - Mar. 2026
- 4 hours ago
- 1 min read
Love it, like it, or hate it, the financial health of many U.S. crop farms is tied to biofuels. With 45Z, sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), and even talk of maritime fuels, that connection may only deepen.
In this month's episode of #ClearingTheAir, a collaboration between #SmokeAndMirrorsPod and the Flinchbaugh Center, Eric Atkinson, Mark Edelman, Brad Lubben, and Jenny Ifft sat down with Scott Irwin. His decades of research and public engagement have shaped how we understand commodity markets and biofuels.
A few key takeaways:
The price of corn has dramatically changed due to ethanol.
Ethanol is now a core component of gasoline in the U.S. due to its role as an oxygenate. Its use would likely persist even without supportive policies, unlike biodiesel.
Corn now dominates global ethanol production.
Yields continue to trend upward, raising longer-term questions about surplus, not scarcity.
The EV transition is real, but slow. Liquid fuels and biofuels aren’t going anywhere anytime soon.
Sustainable aviation fuel may be the next frontier, but getting there will take policy, infrastructure, and time.
Indirect land use models continue to play an outsized—and controversial—role in policy design.
These issues extend beyond USDA. Agriculture is part of the broader energy and climate policy conversation.
Clearing the Air is a monthly podcast brought to you by The Flinchbaugh Center in partnership with the Smoke and Mirrors podcast. Hosted by Eric Atkinson, the show offers thoughtful, fact‑driven conversations for anyone interested in the intersection of agricultural economics, policy, and real‑world decision‑making. Each episode features insights from Jennifer Ifft, Mark Edelman, and Brad Lubben, along with a rotating monthly guest.
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