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Ethanol Stands Alone As A Biofuel Despite Concerns
By Mr Ethanol | May 1, 2007
These days some environmentalists are crying foul about a fuel that is polluting the air and ocean and driving up the price of food.
No, it’s not petroleum critics are complaining about. It’s corn ethanol.
Corn ethanol has been championed by politicians as a “win, win, win” solution for America’s energy demands.
It has been heralded as a solution to national security because corn is a domestic product as opposed to the oil that the U.S. consumes, most of which is imported. Its use as a fuel boosts profits for America’s farmers and rural communities.
And compared with oil, corn ethanol emits about 13 to 20 percent less carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas that most scientists believe is responsible for climate change.
But corn ethanol has taken a beating recently.
Critics blamed high tortilla prices in Mexico this winter on demand for corn by U.S. ethanol refineries. The demand for corn also drove up livestock feed prices around the country.
The National Corn Growers’ Association disputes both of these claims. The Mexican tortilla crisis was based on a disruption in milling operations and in the supply of white corn, not the yellow corn used for ethanol, the association reports. And, it notes, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics’ March 2007 consumer price index showed food prices are expected to increase only 3.3% less than last year, despite 15 months of rising corn prices.
Ethanol refineries also are being criticized for environmental pollution. Read on.
Topics: BizOp, Ethanol, News, Positives |
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