The corn and ethanol issue by Malc Baxter

The corn and ethanol issue by Malc Baxter

The US government, have for some time now being giving a subsidy to corn and ethanol production. The reasoning behind helping in the production of corn and ethanol is that it can be used as a alternative to fossil fuels. In turn it is hoped that because ethanol burn more cleanly than petrol that it will help the environment and reduce US dependence on oil from other countries. With most ethanol that is produced in the U.S being made from corn, although other grains and biomass can be used, there as been a economic stimulation to U.S. agriculture, therefore creating a new market for corn and maize. Estimates have also shown that as many as 10 million acres of land are required to grow corn or maize to produce ethanol.

By increasing production in the ethanol industry it may be a means of increasing farmers income as well as reducing farm subsidy payments and also as said before, lessen the dependence on imported fuels. Furthermore, there is more energy efficiency achieved through use of corn and ethanol and it also achieves a net gain in a better form of energy since converting corn to ethanol means using abundant domestic supplies of coal and natural gas.

Some possible negative aspects with using corn and ethanol:

There are certain issues with using corn and ethanol since it requires the use of fuel and energy to grow the corn in the first place and it has been found that one acre of U.S. corn will produce approximately 328 gallons of ethanol. However, the planting, growing and harvesting of that amount of corn will need 140 gallons of fossil fuels, and that in itself amounts to $347 per acre which equates to $1.05 per gallon of ethanol even before the corn leaves the farm.

This may be further compounded by the crushing and fermentation of corn at processing plants, all of which consumes energy. It seems that the end cost of producing ethanol and using corn works out to be more expensive than that of petrol.

Never the less there are lots of individuals who argue that corn and ethanol gives 30% more energy than it takes to make it, so therefore it is very energy efficient. Also there are studies that show the net energy values are rising for corn and ethanol, this is probably because technology is improving in the production of corn and ethanol.


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