Topic: Ethanol Fuels: Past, Present, and Future
Speaker: Dr Jeffrey T. Manuel, Professor, Department of History, SIU-Edwardsville
Ethanol fuel is one of the most hotly debated topics in energy. Supporters believe ethanol offers a bio-based alternative to oil that
promises clean air and money for farmers. Opponents argue ethanol is a government boondoggle that reflects agribusiness influence in
Congress. Yet neither side in the ethanol debate captures the fuel’s long, global history. In this presentation, I will share some findings
from my research into ethanol’s longer history in the United States and Brazil (the world’s two ethanol superpowers). I have researched
ethanol’s history in North and South America and am finishing a book tentatively titled, “The Perennial Alternative: A Century of Ethanol
in Brazil and the United States and Lessons for the Future of Energy and Agriculture.” From this perspective, I will share several lessons
this history holds for the coming clean-energy transition.
Jeff Manuel is a professor in the History Department at SIUE. He researches and teaches about the history of energy, technology, and
the environment. In addition to his current research into ethanol history, Manuel is the author of “Taconite Dreams: The Struggle to
Sustain Mining on Minnesota’s Iron Range, 1915-2000.” He is also active in oral history projects and works with museums and public
history in the St. Louis region.
