US Ethanol Production

There are many types of production of ethanol in these days. Water ethanol, sugar ethanol and corn ethanol. The process of making ethanol is not the problem, it is the results and impact.

Ethanol produced from corn is all the rage in America and this attention has not missed the commodity markets. Corn prices have skyrocketed, which we might think is great for farmers, and for many it is very helpful. However, the repurcussions of this price increase will be felt throughout the country.

Many of the congressional representatives from farm states are pushing corn ethanol as the answer to global warming problems stemming from car emissions. This has brought more attention to corn and made many want to go into farming in order to make some money off the high prices. What most are not considering is the failures of corn ethanol, especially when it comes to reducing greenhouse emissions. The production of ethanol via corn is just as harmful, if not more, than the use of fossil fuels. But since the issue is now a political one it might be difficult to derail this before it blows up in our face. Another issue is the commodity price of corn; it has skyrocketed with all the attention to solving the global warming problem. This alone is not a problem, but when you examine its impact on other things it is very problematic. Because corn is used as feed, it becomes more expensive to feed livestock. That means the price of beef and chicken will skyrocket as well. This will affect entire industries as well as the average citizen who consumes these products. Remember, corn is used in many more things than just feed, so prices of more products will have to increase in order to cover the cost of rising corn prices.

So before believing the production of ethanol through corn is the holy grail, think again.

Written by Nagel on April 24th, 2007 with no comments.
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