Ethanol proponent.

Your June 26 issue contained some excellent commentary on how the energy marketplace is constrained by government. I must take issue, however, with comments made in "An Expert Look at the Energy Crisis," suggesting ethanol's current popularity is driven solely by politics and using phraseology such as "pure, political nonsense" and "all political, and inefficient and wasteful."

By disclaimer, I am a conservative, a successful small-business owner, a proponent of free markets and limited government, and a believer in the individual. I am also a co-owner of an ethanol production facility.

As friends have learned of my ethanol involvement, some have expressed surprise that a free-market advocate such as I am would support ethanol. They wrongly assume that because ethanol is often referenced by current politics and regulatory mandates, this grain-driven fuel deserves only scorn.

At one point in time, ethanol was not part of the answer to our fuel situation (remember gasohol?). But we must not assume that ethanol is therefore inherently bad or that under changing market conditions the original conclusion is valid.

The acid test is simply one question: "Absent government interference, would the market support ethanol?" Today's answer is a resounding "Yes!"

Improving technology for ethanol production and increased fuel prices are just two of the many reasons that ethanol makes sense in today's marketplace.

Look at today's generally accepted energy-balance facts alone. Producing ethanol returns 138 percent of the total energy used in the production process, including farming, etc. As a fuel, it is slightly less effective than gasoline, but it is much more cost effective in today's market. Putting it all together, ethanol provides an effective increase in available energy for combustion of 17 percent for each unit of energy invested in its production, while decreasing the effective cost by 40 percent. As a businessman, these numbers get my attention.

Your cover story subtitle, "American oil companies need to develop domestic sources of supply, but the government won't let them," presupposes that the only answer to our fuel problem is petroleum. This does a disservice to those of us who are trying to fill a market demand for a product that consumers want to buy.

The reality of today's marketplace rightly reflects a demand for ethanol. While ethanol will not satisfy the market alone, it is aptly referred to as an alternative fuel and a viable part of the product mix consumers seek to meet their energy needs.

ROB DAVIS 

New Castle, Indiana