The once golden luster of corn-based ethanol has now dulled, as has the nation's enthusiasm for this once-heralded savior of our fuel needs. According to Craig Cox from the July/August issue of Ode Magazine, it turns out that corn ethanol "takes 30 percent more energy to grow and process than it produces as fuel." Not only that, but it hardly reduces carbon-dioxide emissions, and causes food prices to rise. With the demand for corn ethanol, we are creating a struggle between using corn for food for humans and livestock, or using it for fuel to feed the machines we depend upon. Either way, the corn lobby and large-scale farmers are more than happy to receive federal subsidies to grow corn---and only corn! Is it going to come to the point where we're going to start importing vegetables that we used to grow here in the states because farmers are too concerned with growing corn for ethanol? Sounds alarmist, but if the government keeps holding hands with the corn lobby, it could become a partial reality.
So, what to do? Well, there are other sources of plant-based fuel that are easier to grow, take less energy to process, and don't detract from our food supply. It appears that so much more biodiesel can be produced per acre from less obvious sources than almost every ethanol crop. One such alternative would be switchgrass, which produces 1,150 gallons of biodiesel per acre (compared with the 354 gallons of ethanol that corn produces). How about algae? That wonderful green stuff you see floating on the surface of ponds can produce 5,000 gallons of biodiesel per acre!
Okay---get out your hacky sacks and crank up the Grateful Dead: HEMP can produce 1,000 gallons of biodiesel per acre! Well, if algae can produce so much more biodiesel, then what's so great about hemp? The thing about algae is that the growing conditions have to be just right to attain maximum yield, and it is often influenced by evaporation and the invasion of less effective algae populations. Hemp, on the other hand, grows like a...um, weed... and would be very easy to grow and cultivate. Also, hemp has many wonderful uses, such as in textiles, soaps and body lotions, food-grade cooking oils, ropes, and many, many other ingenious uses. Maybe you could think of some of your own, perhaps?
It seems that corn-based ethanol is to national fuel independence, as the H-4 Hercules Flying Boat was to Howard Hughes: the government dropped a whole bunch of money on it, but then realized it just couldn't really fly. Sorry, but corn-based ethanol just seems a bit, well...corny.
While corn may not be the best way to make ethanol, the other cellulosic sources you mention are not presently ready for prime-time. And while it gets quoted many times that corn-ethanol is a net energy loser, it is just not true.
http://www.ncga.com/ethanol/main/energy.htm
When the technologies to utilize algae and switchgrass mature, the switch will occur. Until then, corn-ethanol allows incentive for investment in ethanol infrastructure (blending, transport, pumps, vehicles, etc.)
Posted by: chief | June 10, 2008 at 08:32 PM