A Hunger and Thirst for Alcohol

What would you rather have, fuel for your inefficient vehicle or food and water? That is the question that the ethanol fuel debate may be coming down to.

Most people acknowledge that mixing ethanol derived from corn with gasoline reduces our dependence on imported oil, but only by a small amount. Corn ethanol also raises prices for farm commodities that ultimately increase your grocery bill.

What especially concerns environmentalists is the disruption that corn-based ethanol production has on the ecology of the planet. Ethanol does nothing to reduce global warming. And the energy required to extract the ethanol from corn is almost a zero sum game. At best, scientists expect that improvements in refinery technology and genetics may make the energy out/in ratio to be 1.3 to 1. Gasoline from crude oil enjoys a ratio of about 10:1.

Alternatives to Corn
Efforts are underway to find alternatives to corn for alcohol production. Ethanol can be made from cellulosic feedstocks such as switchgrass (see picture), corn stover, sugar cane, bagasse, miscanthus, sugar beet, sorghum, grain sorghum, barley, hemp, kenaf, potatoes, sweet potatoes, cassava, sunflower, fruit, molasses, whey or skim milk, grain, wheat, wood, paper, straw, cotton, and other biomass materials. Using them efficiently would provide large, new sources of raw materials for the production of renewable fuel.

Economically feasible cellulosic ethanol production would enable ethanol to displace much more imported crude oil than relying on corn-based ethanol alone. In addition, production of the biomass for cellulosic ethanol production would create economic opportunities for many farmers in diverse geographic regions across the United States. (USDA 2007 Farm Bill proposal)

Hello Ethanol, Goodbye Wildlife!
This opportunity for farmers comes at an enormous loss to everyone else because it will most likely mean the loss of millions of rural acres now set aside for wildlife conservation, erosion control, and flood mitigation. About 40 million farm acres are currently protected in the Agriculture Department's Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) and related security programs. The CRP encourages farmers to convert highly erodible cropland or other environmentally sensitive acreage to resource-conserving vegetative cover, such as tame or native grasses, wildlife plantings, trees, filterstrips or riparian buffers.

Farmers receive payments based on the agriculture rental value of the land and funds participant investments in approved conservation practices. Hunters have worked hard to increase the development of CRP habitat for migratory waterfowl. Ducks Unlimited offers their position on CRP here. For the official line on CRP by the USDA, visit here.

Environmentalists favor CRP because it helps remove greenhouse gases from the atmosphere and reduces soil erosion and nutrient runoff into waterways and aquifers. The fear is that farmers may be induced to eliminate woodlots and convert farmable CRP areas for production of switchgrass and other crops. This will lead to increased erosion, loss of habitat, and increased use of fertilizers and pesticides in sensitive areas.

A Final Toast to Thirst
Go ahead and lift your glass to the opportunities of ethanol. Just don’t ask for a clean water chaser. Ethanol production facilities consume enormous quantities of water. With the proliferation of ethanol plants in the Midwest (Map of US bioethanol refinery locations), communities are being threatened with the loss of surface and well water because of the enormous drawdown of water supplies that ethanol production requires. According to Cornell researcher, David Pimentel, producing one gallon of corn ethanol requires about 1,700 gallons of water to irrigate the corn and process the fuel. That is but one reason why communities are increasingly rejecting proposals to allow ethanol plants to be built in their communities.

Illinois requires extensive permitting to build an ethanol plant and offers incentives to do so. This is all explained in the State of Illinois' Guide to Permit Requirements, Funding Opportunities, and Other Consideration. Illinois does not regulate the rate of aquifer withdrawal. Communities facing droughts like those experienced in the Midwest in recent years have reason to fear the impacts of ethanol plants that might dry up their wells and nearby rivers. The Illinois legislature needs water withdrawal legislation to protect communities from water depletion from both ethanol and coal plants.

Ethanol plants are coming to a town near you!
One new ethanol plant (NABR – formerly known as Renewable Fuels) has already been permitted for construction in Carbondale. It is likely to produce 50 million gallons of product per year and will use, surprisingly, not local coal, but natural gas for fuel. Fifty-three other plants have been proposed in Illinois, including plants in nearby Waltonville (Rend Lake), Alton, and Salem. The dangerous ethanol rush is on!