SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA, July 13, 2006: Amid soaring oil prices and concerns over global warming and national security, corn ethanol has been called the magic bullet for America’s energy troubles, says this article by author Christopher D. Cook. At first glance, corn ethanol’s appeal is compelling. It’s a homegrown energy source that reduces fossil fuel consumption. From Wall Street to Main Street, the ethanol boom has sparked new markets, he continues. Roughly 18 percent of America’s corn goes to fuel today–up from just 8 percent in 2000–making ethanol the second-leading use of corn, after livestock feed. It’s cheaper and cleaner than petroleum gasoline, so demand and production are skyrocketing. But despite this allure, ethanol has its drawbacks. While production has ballooned to 4 billion gallons a year–slated by U.S. energy law to reach at least 7.5 billion by 2012–there are critical, unresolved questions about ethanol’s benefits and costs.
Most pressing are the environmental and energy-draining impacts of large-scale ethanol production. The industrial farming deployed to meet the growing demand for corn relies on petroleum-based fertilizers and pesticides, adding to fossil fuel consumption. Although technological efficiency is improving, ethanol processing plants use vast quantities of water, electric power, and, at some facilities, coal. As production becomes increasing industrialized, pressures to squeeze more corn from already depleted Midwest soils are intensifying–requiring more petroleum and chemicals. Some 98 percent of corn farms use chemical herbicides, applying more than 200 million pounds annually. More than 65 million pounds of toxic Atrazine spray, a likely carcinogen whose residues are found in rivers and streams across America, are dumped on corn crops each year. As more corn and farmland goes to fuel production, concerns have been raised about diminished food grain. According to Lester Brown of the Earth Policy Institute, one person could be fed for an entire year on the amount of grain used to fill a 25-gallon SUV gas tank with ethanol. To read the informative article in its entirety, click on “source” above.