ETHANOL BUSINESS

Ethanol – Where Hype Meets Reality

May 16th, 2008 | Author: Mr Ethanol

13WHAM-TV:
We’re burning food to fuel our cars. Think about that for a second. A growing number of folks are saying that’s crazy, yet the production of corn ethanol in this country continues. Now, as production ramps up locally at Orleans County’s Shelby Ethanol Plant, the critics are lining up to take their shots.

The Great Ethanol Debate begins with the fact that it was once billed as a solution to our energy crisis. Now it’s being blamed for much more, beginning with higher food prices and ending with our struggling economy as a whole.

From Orleans County to Your Gas Tank
In December production of corn ethanol at this Orleans County plant began. By this December nearly 60 million gallons of fuel will be produced. The Sawyer Family’s ethanol plant is the first and only one in operation in the Northeast United States; but it’s far from unique in this country.

“Right now ethanol production in the United States represents 6% of the 140 billion gallons of gasoline that we use every year,” Mike Sawyer of Western New York Energy explained.

That’s gasoline being used at stations like the 12 Corners Mobil in Brighton. That station’s owner, Mike Davis, made the conscious decision to retro-fit his service station for ethanol fuel last year.