There are two sides to almost every story, even when it comes to the truth about Ethanol. Maybe there is more than two. Is Ethanol really greener? Cheaper? Safer? Better? The truth is…it’s complicated. There is very little black and white about the Ethanol debate, but there is plenty of propaganda for and against Ethanol to leave the average consumers undecided about the truth.

What is Ethanol? In short, Ethanol is an alternative fuel derived from plants. Today, corn is the most popular plant used in the US to produce Ethanol, but corn isn’t the only option. Ethanol can also be developed from plants such as: wheat, barley, sugarcane (Brazil) switchgrass, etc. For a courtesy video on the Ethanol production process visit .

Ethanol is used as a renewable fuel that is believed to be safer and burn cleaner than gas. According to the , Ethanol from corn: reduces tailpipe carbon monoxide emissions by as much as 30 percent, reduces exhaust volatile organic compounds (VOC) emissions by 12 percent, reduces toxic emissions by 30 percent, and reduces particulate matter (PM) emissions by more than 25 percent.

If you didn’t know this already, “Ethanol is currently blended into about 46 percent of the nation’s fuel supply,” and has been since the MTBE water contamination discovery. According to , “How Biofuels Could Starve the Poor” by C. Ford Runge and Benjamin Senauer, every year 6 billion gallons of ethanol are used to replace the fuel additive known as MTBE (Methyl tert-butyl ether). MTBE, a chemical in gasoline used to oxygenate gasoline and to raise octane numbers, is now being replaced with Ethanol, due to discoveries of MTBE ground water contamination. Ethanol rapidly biodegrades in water and soil.


Via Renewable Fuels Association (RFA)

So what’s the problem with Ethanol? The debate becomes technical and political. Though Ethanol may burn cleaner and safer than MTBE, experts disagree on its long-term environmental benefit. It takes a lot of energy to grow corn and produce Ethanol from it, but it also requires a lot of energy to transport Ethanol. Why more energy to transport it? Ethanol has a tendency to absorb water and pick up impurities. To prevent water absorption and contamination Ethanol can't be transported in existing pipelines. Instead, truck, rail or barges must distribute it. This process can be expensive and inefficient. Ethanol also contains less energy than gas, which means significantly lower miles per gallon and more fill ups at the pump. “Its energy density is one-third less than gasoline, which means you have to burn more of it to get the same amount of power.”

Another problem with Ethanol derived of corn, corn requires more land to plow, more fertilizer, more pesticides and a lot more water to grow. RFA argues that Water usage in ethanol production is declining thanks to new technologies and water recycling, but they have no explanation for the hazards of fertilizer and pesticides. According to Organic Consumers the runoff of fertilizer “silts up the Mississippi River and creates a vast dead zone in the Gulf of Mexico every summer”.
Why the rush for ethanol from corn then? Politics? Does election year have anything to do with the long debate over Ethanol use? Are we really running out of oil within the next decade; therefore seek an alternative? Or is it independence from foreign oil that we seek? The United States imports about 60 percent of the oil it needs. The amount is expected to grow by 2025. If independence is our goal will Ethanol really help us gain that independence? Some e experts say, “no”. Even if we used all the US corn and turned it into Ethanol it would only replace twelve percent of current gasoline use. And what would happen if we did use all the US corn? Would there be a food crisis? Is there a food crisis already thanks to the production of Ethanol made from corn? ()
Posting on Wednesday: Fueling the Food Crisis: Part Two