Corn ethanol comprises 10% of the US gasoline market as a result of federal mandates. This heavily subsidized product consumes billions of bushels of corn each year. While originally touted as beneficial to the environment and to the economy, corn ethanol has proven to be highly controversial. Corn ethanol production has come under attack for its energy efficiency, environmental impact, and effects on land use.
Among the most potent criticisms of corn ethanol is that it consumes a food crop making that crop more expensive and less available for its original purpose. For years, there has been talk of producing ethanol from cellulosic sources instead – corn stalks, leaves and husks – instead of the corn itself.
Producing ethanol by breaking down this biomass faces many challenges. These processes tend to be complicated, expensive and energy intensive. There is also the uncertainty about how cellulosic ethanol is treated by the federal ethanol mandates.
Nonetheless, the Project Liberty ethanol plant has recently opened in northern Iowa and is set to produce 25 million gallons a year. Other new cellulosic ethanol plants in Kansas and in Iowa are scheduled to open this fall.
The leftovers of corn farming – known as stover – are needed to prevent soil erosion. But at least a quarter of corn waste could be used to make ethanol without adverse effects on the soil. It remains to be seen how good an alternative cellulosic ethanol is to corn ethanol, in terms of energy and the environment, but in principle it seems like a good idea.
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“Fantasy” of Fuel From Corn Waste Gets Big U.S. Test
Photo, posted October 12, 2011, courtesy of Alternative Head via Flickr.
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Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.