Ethanol fuels: curse or cure?
Recently, the Secretary of the United States Department of Agriculture, Tom Vilsack, has recommended that the government increase the percentage of ethanol that can be mixed with our fuel to boost the ailing biofuels industry. While biofuel use skyrocketed last year during high gasoline prices, it has now fallen sharply and an estimated 21 percent of ethanol producers have closed. “My hope is that we get a mix rate of over 10 percent,” Vilsack said. “That will create more opportunities for the ethanol industry.”
The United States is the world’s largest producer of ethanol, which comes mainly from corn, and produced 9 billion gallons last year, followed by Mexico. Currently, a maximum of 10.2 percent can be blended with gasoline to produce ethanol-based E85 or “Flex Fuel.” While industry groups are calling for a 15-20% blend rate to boost the ethanol industry, the EPA is currently considering the impact on both automobiles and the environment.
Meanwhile, a coalition of green groups, including the Clean Air Task Force, Friends of the Earth, and the Environmental Task Force, is campaigning strongly against ethanol-based fuels, claiming that instead of helping the environment environment, they are actually doing a lot more damage. The increased need for corn to supply ethanol to producers has not only taken land away from food production, but has been associated with increased use of fertilizers and pesticides, increased water depletion due to the very high water needs of the corn and has contributed to an increase in food. prices.
Studies also suggest that ethanol production actually increases greenhouse emissions compared to gasoline, and there is growing evidence that emissions from burning ethanol fuels that include formaldehyde and acetaldehyde are actually carcinogenic. . Not only that, but it’s a very hidden fact that while ethanol-based fuel may cost a few pennies less at the pump, it actually reduces the efficiency of vehicles significantly, meaning they need more fuel per year. mile traveled.
Jonathan Lewis, environmental attorney for the Clean Air Task Force “The notion that [corn-based] Ethanol fuels have been shown to be carbon neutral, “while even Tom Vilsack admits that” there are a number of challenges in the way ethanol is produced today, and we have to respond to those challenges. “
Under the “Federal Renewable Fuel Standard,” biofuel production has been set to produce 36 billion gallons by 2022, much of which should come from more advanced “cellulosic” biofuels derived from non-food crops and waste materials. While Vilsack and his group claim that corn-derived ethanol production will prepare the US for this type of biofuel production, Craig Cox of the Environmental Working Group claims that this may remove the incentive for ethanol producers to become move towards these more environmentally friendly methods. .
Whatever the US government’s decision to increase the percentage of ethanol, it is essential that the public stay informed about its production and the actual environmental cost / benefit of using ethanol.