Biofuels: the Facts Behind the “Solution”
Thursday, January 3rd, 2008
The fact of the matter involving biofuels is: is it worth the effort. Demands for ethanol, the fossil fuel substitute has depleted supplies of corn and has led some farmers to feed junk food to their livestock. But is corn ethanol the solution?
Currently, almost all of the fuel thanol made in the United States comes from starch in corn grain. The Bush administration has proposed that biofuels replace at least 15 precent of the gasoline we’ll need by the year 2017. That’s 35 billion gallons of fuel. If corn grain reamins the primary source, the 10-year goal could wasily consume the entire U.S. crop, leaving none left for food-for people or animals.
Even if there could be enough corn produced to use as fuel, mass production of corn uses more herbicides, insecticides, and synthetic fertilizer, and causes more soil erosion, than production of any other U.S. crop. Residues of stalks and leaves ( Corn Stover) normally left in fields after harvesting to prevent erosion and add organic matter back in to the ground is also being looked at for another source of ethanol production.
Corn has been the dominant source of ethanol because it is so inexpensive no other crop can compete with corn on that basis alone. The positive side of the demand on corn growth is the proce rise benefits farmers and forces the ethanol industry to look to other less expensive and more sustainable sources.
Brazil is looking into ways to become energy independant, largely due to its success in the ability to produce ethanol from sugar cane. But, because while corn ethanol yields only about 1 1/2 times as much energy as is required to produce it, sugar can can yield eight times as much in a single harvest.
So the question still remains: What is the best alternative to the issue at hand. While there seems to be some answers with a solution quickly following behind, we still are in the immature phase of knowning the best alternative. The bottom line is: Using corn to replace just 15 precent of our gasoline would consume the entire U.S. crop. (Source: Organic Gardening 2007)
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