Too Corny

Sounds like the popular Corny Ethanol Solution is not so good good good. after all! Below find excerpts from articles I have gathered on the subject.

From: http://www.motherjones.com/news/outfront/2007/11/the-ethanol-effect.html
“Everything about ethanol is good, good, good,” crows Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley, echoing the conventional wisdom that corn-based ethanol will help us kick the oil habit, line the pockets of farmers, and usher in a new era of guilt-free motoring. But despite the wishes of Iowans (and the candidates courting them) the “dot-corn bubble” is too good to be true.
Click on the image to enlarge and see a great summary of corn ethanol as an inefficient alternative for our fuel needs.

Excerpts from http://www.gimme-five.com/2007/06/ethanol-is-bad-ethanol-from-corn-is-worse

I wrote an article a while ago about the downsides of producing ethanol as a transportation fuel. These downsides, in short, are:

• Ethanol has a negative energy balance. Ethanol from corn, switchgrass, and wood biomass requires 29%, 50%, and 57% more energy, respectively, to create the ethanol than the energy contained within the fuel.
• Because ethanol production requires a significant amount of energy, and most energy in the US is produced from coal, the small reduction in CO2 and other polluting emissions from burning ethanol versus gasoline will be more than offset by the power needed to produce the ethanol.
• Ethanol crops have a notoriously low energy yield per hectare. Thus, it requires a large amount of land to produce a meaningful amount of ethanol. Last year, 20% of the total corn crop was used to produce ethanol, and it offset only 1% of US oil use.

I still don’t believe that switchgrass-based or any type of ethanol will be the transportation fuel of the future. Switchgrass may not be as bad as corn, but the technology needs to dramatically improve before it is a viable option.

Another interesting point is that plants capture something like 0.1% of the sun’s energy, whereas photovoltaics capture around 10%. This really makes me feel that electric vehicles, once batteries are developed further, could make a huge difference in reducing our oil dependence.

I agree that ethanol from sugarcane is more efficient than corn. However, the US can’t emulate Brazil’s ethanol success because of two factors. First, to grow sugarcane, a warm climate is needed, and much of the US is too cold to grow it. Secondly, Brazil’s total fuel demand is very small compared to the US in per capita and aggregate terms, so much less land is needed to grow fuel. US Transportation fuel demand is huge in both aggregate and per capita terms.
Read the full article and comments here.

Logical Science

Many ethanol critics will point to a study performed by Berkeley’s Tad Patzek and Cornell’s David Pimentel which says corn ethanol requires 29 percent more fossil energy than what you can get out of it… Yet the USDA reports say ethanol is a net energy gain. Why the discrepancy? Well to make a long story short the USDA is doing some fancy accounting with by-products. The widely referenced chemical engineer Robert Rapier says: “The only way the energy balance gets into positive territory is that by-product credit.” This by-product credit is plant matter that is processed into makeshift animal feed.

The calories are counted as fuel energy and added on top of the ethanol that is produced. Without this animal feed corn based ethanol is a net loss of energy. If you add this animal feed in you get into the positive but the amount of gain is not very significant.
Read the full article at: http://www.logicalscience.com/technology/bad/Ethanol.html

Food Crisis Largely Due to Biofuel Production

Posted on: Wednesday, 30 April 2008, 10:40 CDT

A group of food scientists called for a reconsideration of plans to use foods such as corn and soybeans for biofuels….

Joachim von Braun, Director General at the International Food Policy Research Institute in Washington, the policy arm of CGIAR, said that more research should be done on developing non-grain crops, such as switchgrass, into biofuel.

He added that the United States and other countries have to make a hard choice between fighting high fuel prices and fighting world hunger.
Read the full article at: www.redorbit.com/news/science/1364358/food_crisis_largely_due_to_biofuel_production

U.S. eyes shift away from corn ethanol

Chicago - America’s love affair with corn-based ethanol is cooling – at least in Washington.

Some legislators blame the rising use of corn as a biofuel as a key factor behind high food prices. Others want to freeze the federal mandate on biofuels production at current levels, reversing legislation passed just a few months ago that increases it through 2022. Still others are pushing to shift tax incentives away from corn-based to cellulose-based ethanol in the nearly completed farm bill.

These moves represent a dramatic backlash against corn ethanol, which until a few months ago was widely viewed as a boon for both farmers and consumers.
Read the full article at: http://www.csmonitor.com/2008/0501/p03s03-usec.html

Read more great articles on corn and other subjects at http://willtaft.com/blog

Me, Myself, My Species

Saving the planet?

Well, I think this is such an externalized way to look at it. The planet will probably be fine. Will the environment be safe for human habitation? That is the question.

People are becoming increasingly health conscious. This consciousness leads to larger concerns.
Global warming and ecological issues are taking on an increasingly prominent position in the public mind. Basic needs are threatened–food supply, water supply, the air we breathe–what can we do?

Well, I wish I had all the answers , but at least I know a good place to start. I recommend UCS–Union of Concerned Scientists.

Global warming action
Renewable energy info
Car sharing

To contact your senators and representatives the number for the switchboard at the Capitol is (202)224-3121. Urge your legislators to support strong, science-based global warming policy.