Ethanol sounded like a good idea, and had it been done right, it might have been a decent alternative energy choice. Instead, it has become a boondoggle for the agriculture industry at the expense of everyone else. Politicians placate the farm states (Iowa votes first!) with legislation designed with only their interests in mind.
Winners and Losers
Let's start with the winners, because that list is not very long. Farmers and food processing firms, large and small, are benefiting from the price of corn which has risen meteorically in the last year.
Corn rose from $3 per bushel in 2005 to an astonishing $8 at the end of July 2008. The rise is partially attributable to a demand for corn-based ethanol, aided by a government mandate that gasoline be blended with it to reduce our dependency on foreign oil. In addition, poor crop yields have pushed prices to where they are today. To protect overburdened cattle ranchers, Texas Governor Rick Perry petitioned the EPA to reduce the ethanol mandate. His request was denied.
So who loses? Everyone who consumes food, and I assume that includes you. The price of corn affects much of what we consume, including the livestock. Check your pantry for package labeling of products that don't show the words, corn syrup, high-fructose or otherwise.
Our groceries are now costing more than ever. That budget item has risen close to 4% from last year, not a miniscule amount of that rise attributable to corn prices. Milk and meat costs are up because much of our domestic cattle now consume the more expensive corn. Transportation cost has further exacerbated the situation.
Our relatively comfortable society's struggle with these higher costs are nothing compared to what peoples of the third world are now experiencing.
There are far better crops that could be used to make ethanol, and their horticulture would not impact the food supply. Plants requiring far less land to grow can produce cellulosic ethanol, which has a higher energy yield and is far friendlier to our neighborhood Earth.
DesMoines Register 7/27/08 -Most farmers would be pleased with the yields Matt Liebman can get from his cornfield – 200bushels an acre or more. Better yet, Liebman gets his strong yields with far less fertilizer and pesticide than conventional growers use, says Register columnist Philip Brasher. But Liebman, an agronomy professor at Iowa State University, knows few farmers will pay attention to his methods. Not when corn is selling for $6 to $7 a bushel. Top
Following his model would mean a farmer could only plant corn every three or four years on the same ground. Other years, he would have to plant soybeans and crops such as alfalfa and red clover to replace the nitrogen corn has sucked out of the soil. With the cost of growing crops soaring, Liebman’s rotation system may get a look from farmers. Also, changes in environmental regulations could be near. Limits on greenhouse gas emissions could mean that farmers get paid for practices that reduce tillage and keep more carbon in the soil. Top
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette 7/27-08 - It looks like a long-legged dandelion, smells like broccoli and once lit Bronze Age oil lamps. A long-forgotten member of the mustard family, camelina might have a purpose once again. On 300 acres in Pennsylvania, camelina is being grown as a test crop in the manufacture of biodiesel. Though the jury’s still out on what the crop will yield in oil and what the biofuel market will pay, a co-op of a dozen farmers guided by Penn State University agronomists remains upbeat. The PSU Cooperative Extension Service coordinator says camelina oil is an attractive biofuel source because the plant is low maintenance, requires little fertilizer, no tilling, and can be planted in early-spring. Top
ETHANOL STIRS COMPLAINTS
New York Times 7/26/08 -Along the highways of Oklahoma City and in other pockets of the country, a mutiny is growing against energy policies that heavily support and subsidize the blending of ethyl alcohol, or ethanol, into gasoline. As ethanol has spread around the country, gas station owners and wholesalers are catering to concerns about ethanol that are often exaggerated but not entirely unfounded. Though common in the Midwest for at least a decade, ethanol-gas blends arrived on the coasts a few years ago. Only recently did ethanol start showing up in many Southern states. The expansion has been driven largely by federal measures requiring that 36 billion gallons of biofuels a year be mixed into the nation’s gasoline supply by 2022. Top