Not All Ethanol is Created Equal
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto 
on 06. 8.06
In a recent post regarding the production of ethanol, a commenter requested "please stop writing about ethanol production as if it is and will always be based upon the fuel and foodstock intensive processing approach"- we don't- we ooohed about Iogen's cellulosic ethanol here and here, and ahhhed over switchgrass here. Unfortunately most of what we read still indicates that a lot of ethanol is being produced using coal and natural gas as fuel, and corn grown with synthetic fossil-fuel based fertilizers. There is also more to life than just having fuel for our tanks and more to the environment than just greenhouse gases. Alternet recently covered the subject, discussing an Archer Midland Daniels plant's effect on the environment: "A single ADM corn processing plant in Clinton, Iowa generated nearly 20,000 tons of pollutants including sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, and volatile organic compounds in 2004, according to federal records. The EPA considers an ethanol plant as a "major source" of pollution if it produces more than 100 tons of any one pollutant per year, although it has recently proposed increasing that cap to 250 tons." The report goes on to suggest, like our commenter, that there is a slight reduction in greenhouse gas generation from ethanol, but that the other environmental effects of intense corn farming outweigh the gain. What is the true cost to the taxpayer, the air and the rest of the environment? It is not just about making fuel. ::Alternet
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Just yesterday, Worldwatch released a major international report on biofuels for transportation, which gets at these questions. See www.worldwatch.org
I really feel people are failing to see the big picture when it comes to ethanol as a potential replacement for petroleum-based fuels. I agree that corn-based ethanol using current techniques provides very little/if any overall reduction in environmental impact. However, it is a starting point. Corn is available and ready to be used now. Further, technologies will be developed that will provide greater amounts of fuel compared with less environmental impact such as the wonderful work being done by Iogen. The likelihood of technologies like these being able to get a foothold will be greatly enhanced if there is already an ethanol-based infrastructure in place. Farmers will gladly sell their farm waste to cellusosic ethanol plants when they become economically viable. This in turn will prompt some farmers choosing to plant dedicated energy crops such as switchgrass that can also be converted to ethanol using the same process.
Corn-based ethanol is not the answer to our environmental, economic, and security needs, however I beleive it is the first (and IMHO a necessary) towards reaching those goals.
Click my name for an excellent presentation on the potential of ethanol that was linked by Hugg.com a couple of weeks ago by a Silicon Valley entreprenuer turned venture capitalist who is investing heavily in ethanol technology. It is very long, and I admit there are a couple of statements that I found slightly misleading, but overall is very informative.