Why do we still produce corn ethanol?

Question

One-fourth of US corn production now goes to producing ethanol (the US produces nearly half of worldwide ethanol). The corn could be used for livestock feed or the land used to grow the corn most people eat, providing food for millions. Worldwide, 12% of corn production now goes into ethanol processing plants, depite the fact it's a very poor way to produce ethanol.

Corn-based ethanol yields at most 25% more energy than it takes to produce, while sugarcane, sugar beets and others are much better and switchgrass yields 540% more energy than is used to produce it. And switchgrass doesn't require prime farmland, marginal land that is now kept out of use by the USDA could be planted, it's renewable and doesn't require replanting, requires much less water and care than corn and is much more disease and pest-resistant.

But there's no switchgrass lobby and our politicians are too stupid and greedy to make rational decisions. How do we change this?

Answer 1

Corn is still a good short term answer to our energy needs. We have tons of the stuff rotting by the roadsides. Corn growers are NOT taking food out of the mouths of the poor.

http://www.hanskaco.com/index.aspx?ascxi...

Dramatically rising international corn price speculation has led to expensive tortillas.

http://www.ilfb.org/viewdocument.asp?did...

But who is profiting from these speculatory price rises? With all the noise the Media is making trying to blame U.S. farmers, maybe we should look at the owners of the media and their financial buddies. As usual, the real cause of financial strain can be traced to our 'overlords' in the financial district. They think they own us. And so long as we do nothing to disabuse them of the notion, they're RIGHT.

Until we have an easily reproduced system for converting switchgrass to ethanol on a home scale, that will remain a pipe dream that Bush will be happy to keep people pacified with.

Answer 2

Vote them OUT of office  !

Answer 3

Send letters to the government. You can send one to the NC representitive at    http://mchenry.house.gov/zipauth.htm I did it and he wrote to me back. So maybe you could do that.

Answer 4

Farmers like options.. and they like what they are used to doing for decades... and They want as much money per Acre and Hour that they can get ... just like the rest of us.

Corn can be sold to ethanol plants...

Corn can be sold to high  fructose corn syrup companies or the large list of items that get that as a sweetener....

Corn can be sold as feed for cattle and other domestic animals.

Corn can be sold to Humans for Food.

etc...etc...

There is an investment in any product a farmer chooses to grow... in machines , seed, plant rotation , etc....

Some of the very very expensive machinery and investments used for corn will not easily or cheaply adapt to other products...

The more expensive corn gets the more profit the Corn farmer sees... so why would the Corn Farmer care if corn goes up in price... heck they want it to go up... they would be happy to see corn triple in price... they would make more profit as a corn farmer.

I do not blame the politicians... they do what they think will keep them getting re-elected... and if they are right then they get re-elected and if they are wrong then they don't... In short... The politicians we have and every choice they make I hold those who voted for them responsible... we the voting public choose them to represent us so their choices are our doing.

Answer 5

I remember reading in National Geographic that corn based ethanol only creates 3-5% more energy than it takes to produce it.  Maybe your figure of 25% is more up to date, but either way, it's highly inefficient!  

I honestly don't really know what you or I could do to change this craze for ethanol.  It seems that both Dems and Republicans support corn ethanol, so it's not like we can vote one party out of office and expect anything different from the next party.  I am willing to bet though if Iowa wasn't always the first state to vote in primaries that we might not have all the candidates supporting ethanol.  It's stupid how one sparcly populated state can control the entire nation's energy policy.