Ethanol is an industry built on government mandates, subsidies, tariffs and the farm lobby.
Heralded as a boon to make America less dependent on foreign oil it has become just another government boondoggle. An independent study by Professor David Pimentel of Cornell University, estimates it takes approximately 1.3 gallons of oil to produce a single gallon of ethanol. The corn lobby has slightly more optimistic figures, but ethanol only has about two-thirds the energy of gasoline, so it is still a losing proposition and will require more oil imports not less.
The advantage of a cleaner burning fuel is offset by the fact ethanol contributes to global warming.
As for the jobs created the proposed, $130 million ethanol project in Glenville, Minnesota is a good example. 40 new jobs are expected to be created. $130 million for 40 jobs.
What is the cost of this boondoggle? Corn ethanol subsidies totaled $7 billion in 2006 for 4.9 billion gallons of ethanol. That’s $1.50 per gallon. So much for ethanol lowering the price of gas.
The biggest cost of all may be in water. The authors of UNESCO’s latest World Water Development Report listed an increased bio-fuel production as one of the main reasons for the impending world water crisis. The most quoted figure is 4.5 gallons of water to produce one gallon of ethanol, but the April 15 issue of Environmental Science and Technology puts it at 2,100 gallons of water for every gallon of ethanol.
The bottom line is we are putting our money, food and water (all in short supply) into a product of little if any value. As Bob Dole used to say “where’s the outrage?”
William Steenblock
Decatur
July 1st, 2009 at 9:51 am
Your letter puts one element to rest that I’ve been wondering about. In Al Gore’s world, the icecaps and glaciers melt and become water, which then floods every seaport city in the world under lots of water. I’ve been wondering where this water is going because the sea level hasn’t been increasing. Maybe the benefits of ethanol include the usage of water so the cities don’t flood.
July 1st, 2009 at 11:00 am
Mr Pimental has written several papers critical of the agricultural industry. He is hardly an unbiased source. There are other studies that result in a 35% energy gain in ethanol production. Critics of Pimentals studies have proven him to use outdated agricultural methods to form his conclusions. It seems likely that farming is more efficient in the 21st century than then the 70’s, 80’s or even 90’s where Pimental culls his data from.
I think the jury is still out on ethanol fuels and that the real future lies in celluosic ethanol and not the corn variety.
July 1st, 2009 at 2:01 pm
Mr. Steenblock has some valid points. It is true ethanol has less energy than gasoline and does take a lot of water to make. However we do need to stretch our fuel supply. Most of the country uses 10% ethanol in their gasoline now. Diesel is not far behind with blends of b5 (5%) to b20 (20%) becoming common. $130 million for an ethanol plant is not a government project. The investors expect to make money. While it is true ethanol is subsidized through tax breaks, should we just import more oil instead? Brazil is running on 100% ethanol and exports it. I think ethanol should be made from grass instead of corn, but there is no grass lobby.
July 1st, 2009 at 7:17 pm
Gasstationman, I doubt if there will ever be an organized “grass lobby”. The oil, chemical and farm implement lobbies would steamroll any effort by a grass lobby, since chemical fertilizers aren’t necessary to grow grass and specialized machinery is unnecessary for harvesting. There are some companies similar to ADM that are experimenting with cellulose ethanol, but they are comparatively small potatoes relative to ADM or Carvill. Hopefully, someday, farmers, businesses and politicians will see the value in these crops. It would also be a financial boon to farmers, since, biofuel crops such as switchgrass can be grown on marginal ground that is unsuitable for the more traditional crops.
July 1st, 2009 at 8:42 pm
So far as objective scientific studies Pimentals studies are absolutely worthless I’ve read his writeups on other issues and they are really stupid.
What I’ve heard that sounds cool regarding ethanol is pennygrass
http://www.pjstar.com/business/x956029793/Biodiesel-plant-may-grow-like-a-weed
July 2nd, 2009 at 5:15 pm
If ethanol made sense i would not have to be subsidized. Give me the money and i will write the report any way you want it.
July 7th, 2009 at 2:58 pm
Billy- I see where you are in luck. T Boone Pickens has just put all of his wind turbines, sitting in garage, for sale. Obama had him roll out his green wind energy plan just before the election, and now, “poof”. I thought the stimulus money was supposed to go to these types of green projects?
July 9th, 2009 at 8:31 am
I guess the Pickens commercials touting wind was nothing but wind touting Obama during the campaign. Surprised no one has come to Barack’s defense to explain what he really meant. Kind of like no taxe increases of any kind for those under $250,000
July 9th, 2009 at 12:56 pm
Since this kind of relates to ADM and their making of ethanol I just have to comment on the trailer of the Informant that I just watched. If that is representative of the rest of the movie - well wow - it is sure to show ADM in the best light ever and Mark Whitacre as a bumbling idiot. Talk about impartial media ! NOT !!!! I am not all the surprised that ADM is going to once again NOT be shown as the corrupt company that they truly are
Disgusting
July 9th, 2009 at 4:23 pm
Sue
You got all of that from the trailer? I think I would like to see the movie first.
July 10th, 2009 at 8:50 am
Curious what the current ethanol production at ADM is? How much water do they use to make a gallon of ethanol? Seems like we were scrambling to dredge our lake so that we could keep the capacity up (for ADM?) Don’t get me wrong - I’m grateful for the industry, but at what cost to the area’s water supply? What about the CO2 injection well? How will this impact the long term health of the groundwater?
July 11th, 2009 at 9:26 am
Sue- read the book. The movie is supposedly based on the book. In the book, Mark was indeed the bumbling idiot who wouldn’t know the truth if it smacked him in the face.
July 11th, 2009 at 5:28 pm
Joe- I’mn guessing the pumping of CO2 into the ground is a very green thing. Obama is a green Predident, and he revived the project in Mattoon that is based upon pumping into the ground instead of the air.
July 12th, 2009 at 9:19 am
KLINTON. Obamma-Pickens-and yourself all have one thing in common. WIND!