Corn: The Alternative Fuel

With global warming becoming a big concern and the aggravating increase in the price of gas, the U.S. turns to ethanol based fuels, which can actually be derived from corn and soybean, to combat these problems. The theory behind these corn based fuels is that their emissions would be considerably less and that consumers would be able to save money on this new found fuel source. As it turns out, this project is destroying the economy, making the recession currently facing US citizens even worse than it already is and also not helping prevent global warming as much as would be expected.

Ethanol, usually made from corn, is created through a cycle that burns extra oil, which adds to global warming and is also extremely water-intensive putting pressure on water supplies (will par. 5). Editorial assistant Elizabeth Palmberg states that the effects of biofuels are based on a farming model - "a model that sucks up water, erodes soil, pollutes groundwater, and produces N2O (an extremely powerful greenhouse gas) at unsustainable rates" (Palmberg par. 7). In 2000, fuel production and usage were the cause of less than 20 percent of nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions but because ethanol production causes massive N2O emissions, this number is expected to increase quickly (EPA Exhibit 3-1). Although N2O only accounts for 5 percent of global emissions, it is still far more dangerous because it is 310 times more effective at trapping heat than carbon dioxide (CO2) (EPA pg. 3-1). Unfortunately attention has been drawn to the CO2 which makes up 55 percent of global emissions even though CO2 can be broken down by trees and other plants (EPA Exhibit 1-1).

Under the Energy Policy Act of 2005, the federal government has mandated a boost in ethanol production paying fuel producing companies a 51-cent credit for every gallon of ethanol that is blended with gasoline (Palmberg par. 4). The US produced 17 billion liters of ethanol in 2005 using 15 percent of its corn supply to supplant only 2 percent of its gasoline use (Will par. 2).The government is wasting America’s corn supply to a process that generates just as much energy if not less. Yet in President Bush’s January 2007 State of the Union Speech, he called for an increase of 35 billion gallons of these renewable fuels by 2017 (Johnson and Runge par. 8). Despite the government’s enthusiastic support for ethanol, the US has placed a 54-cent per gallon tariff on imported ethanol from Brazil, which costs significantly less than US ethanol (Johnson and Runge par. 9).

Government mandates to increase biofuel production are a dominant cause in the global rise in food prices because they burn food and lots of it. “To fill one 25-gallon SUV tank with ethanol takes 450 pounds of corn, enough to feed a person for a year, and thousands of gallons of water” (palmberg par. 10). In response to meeting government mandates, farmers are taking one of two routes; they are getting more land to grow corn or changing what they are growing on their current land to corn or other biofuel crops. Duane Dailey of the Southeast Farmpress writes that corn harvest expands an average of 2 million acres per year, the driving force behind the destruction of forests and woodlands which could be used to absorb carbon-dioxide emissions (Dailey par. 12-13).

With the extensive focus of corn being grown for biofuel, farmers who raise livestock suffer as well. Cornmeal is a common feed for livestock and higher corn prices mean higher feed costs for these livestock producers. Pat Westhoff of the MU Food and Agriculture Policy Research Institute points out that “feed costs increased by an average of $750 million per year because of the energy bill ‘which means less meat and milk production’” (Dailey par. 17, 19). As a result, this leaves farmers who primarily raise livestock feeling like “welfare queens” as they are forced to survive off of farmer subsidies (Pollan pg. 41).

In the end it seems that the efforts to save money and the environment are all for not considering it takes as much if not more energy put into making biofuels as they produce. It would make a greater impact on the environment if instead the research was stopped and the destruction of forests to expand production of corn for ethanol was controlled. It is ridiculous to think that the US wants to get rid of something that helps get rid of fossil fuel emissions to make way for a product that does almost nothing to help the environment. James and Stephen Eaves , writers for Regulation Quarterly also note that “if the entire US corn crop were turned into ethanol, […] it would displace 3.5 percent of gasoline use, just slightly more than would be displaced if drivers properly inflated their tires” (Will par. 11).

The hidden costs facing Americans from the biofuels project are in the market and in the air. With food prices on the rise due to more farmers devoting their crops to this project, the average American consumer is spending 8 to 10 percent more per year in the market and saving a maximum of 3.5 percent on gas. With the continuing increase of ethanol production there is also sure to be an increase in emissions, with unknown effects on the American public in the future.

Works Cited

Dailey, Duane. “Biofuels Mandates Increase Corn Demand.” Southeast Farm Press 35 Feb. 2008: 16. Academic Search Complete. EBSCO. OSU Newark Campus Lib., Oh. 14 Apr. 2008 .

EPA. Dec 2001. Non-CO2 Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Developed Countries: 1990-2010. US Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Air and Radiation. .

Johnson, Robbin S., and C. Ford Runge. “Ethanol: Train Wreck Ahead?” Issues in Science & Technology 24 (2007): 25-30. Academic Search Complete. EBSCO. OSU Newark Campus Lib., Oh. 17 Apr. 2008 .

Mullins, Luke. “Fresh Profits From the Farm.” U.S. News & World Report 144 (2008): 59-60. Academic Search Complete. EBSCO. OSU Newark Campus Lib., Oh. 14 Apr. 2008 .

Naylor, Rosamond L., et al. “The Ripple Effect: Biofuels, Food Security, and The Environment.” Environment 49 Nov. 2007:30-43. Academic Search Complete. EBSCO. OSU Newark Campus Lib., Oh. 16 Apr. 2008 .

Palmberg, Elizabeth. “Do the Math.” Sojourners Magazine 27 Jan. 2008: 8-9. Academic Search Complete. EBSCO. OSU Newark Campus Lib.,16 Apr. 2008 .

Pollan, Michael. The Omnivore’s Dilemma. NewYork: Penguin Group, 2007.

Will, George F. “The Biofuel Follies.” Newsweek 151 Feb. 2008: 64. Academic Search Complete. EBSCO. OSU Newark Campus Lib., Oh. 16 Apr. 2008 .