Tuesday, February 3, 2009

Corn Ethanol No Better Than Gas

I've had it with corn-based ethanol. And don't get me started about the abuse of government farm subsidies. Switchgrass, baby--restore the prairie ecology, restore the rich soil, create cheaper fuel, pollute less, feed more. NO BRAINER. Death to the corn ethanol lobbyists.


"Corn ethanol is no better fuel than gasoline, and it may even be worse for air quality, according to a new University of Minnesota study.

The study, released Monday, is the first one to estimate the economic costs to human health and well-being from three different fuels -- gasoline, corn-based ethanol and cellulosic (plant-based) ethanol -- its authors say.

Scientists and economists looked at life-cycle emissions of growing, harvesting, producing and burning different fuels, and concluded that ethanol made from switchgrass and other plant materials is far better than either corn ethanol or gasoline....

The study concluded that the total environmental and health costs of making a gallon of gasoline was about 71 cents, compared with a range of 72 cents to $1.45 for corn-based ethanol, and 19 to 32 cents for cellulosic ethanol, depending upon the technology and type of plants used.

A major difference between corn-based and "cellulosic" ethanol is that biorefineries producing corn ethanol need to purchase electricity, while those producing cellulosic ethanol can burn the plant waste and generate their own power, the study said. That adds another source of air pollution to corn ethanol as well."

6 comments:

Amanda said...

Working in the ag industry, these studies come out once a week. Next week's will be a different University extolling corn-based ethanol and its benefits to human health compared to other forms of fuel. It depends on who's commissioning the study, among other things. The Grocery Manufacturers Association launched a huge anti-ethanol campaign in order to take the spotlight off skyrocketing food prices. They needed someone to blame it on, aside from their eyes for huge profit. Blame it on the high cost of corn. However, high corn prices would only account for a tiny tiny fraction of the increase in food costs. So, who's right? Whoever can pay the highest price. Rest assured corn-based ethanol outlooks are dim -- commodity markets have plummeted from their highs this summer, right along with everything else.

Anna/Flowergardengirl said...

NC is leading the way with algae based fuels. We can grow it and use it already.

Susan Tomlinson said...

Ditto, Benjamin.

James Golden said...

There's a lot more bad about corn-based ethanol, starting with the way the corn is grown in huge monocultures with intensive use of chemicals, petroleum products, industrial agriculture, and disregard for preserving the land. Michael Pollan's The Omnivore's Delimma (and his other books) should be required reading.

Benjamin Vogt said...

Amanda--Well, you certainly have your finger closer to the pulse of things. This articel said it was an unbiased study by the U of MN, and in corn comntry, you'd like to believe that given what it said about ethanol. All I know is corn is not the godsend everyone wants it to be.
Anna--I've heard about that, and about algae being used in solar power plants. Neat stuff.
James--Can you believe I haven't read that book? Too much to read. But I did give it to my wife, so it's in the house at least.

Town Mouse said...

That's useful information. I really do hope we can somehow pull ourselves together as a species and move toward a sustainable, carbon-free energy future. Amazingly, it would probably be possible, but greed might well keep us from it.