Corn: Is it food or fuel?

1. Corn: Is it food or fuel? FUEL FOOD vs. Mercer University School of Engineering Professional Practices, Dr. Davis L. Williams

2. Why do we need another fuel source anyway? The price of petroleum is continually increasing. The United States, and most of the world, is in need of a more environmentally friendly option than gasoline. The United States is seeking security in an energy source and if it is home grown, the country has more control over its price and availability than if it continues to depend on foreign oil.

3. Farmer’s Enthusiasm Farmers and ethanol refineries could not be happier about the direction in which the ethanol industry is heading. With the government mandates for the use of ethanol and more and more environmentalists against the use of gasoline and other petroleum products, ethanol use seems as if it will continue to be on the rise in the next several years.

4. Is it more important for the US to have fuel or the world to have food? Current use of US corn crop for fuel ~17% (2006) used for ethanol ~ 7% of world’s corn crop Projected use by 2012 A law set in 2005 mandates that at least 7.5 billion gallons of corn ethanol by 2012 which would be about 5% of the projected gasoline use at the time. In the next 10 years, the United States hopes to produce 35 billion gallons of ethanol. This would use the ENTIRE current corn yields of the United States.

5. What the critics have to say… Critics of ethanol use say that not only will the use of corn based ethanol cause increases in crop, livestock, and land prices, it takes more energy to produce it than it gives off when burned. Growing, harvesting, transporting, and processing are all involved in the production of ethanol from corn, and all of these steps takes energy. If a drought, an unseasonably hot summer, pests, or disease hit the corn crop, the price of food would increase greatly and rapidly. Corn based ethanol is not as energy efficient as gasoline, it only has about 2/3 the efficiency so the consumer will have to fill tanks more often and will lose mileage.

6. Is it worth the cost?Effect on consumer products The price of corn will continue to INCREASE as the demand for corn as fuel increases. In the last year, the cost of a bushel of corn has doubled from $2 to $4 and the amount of corn used for ethanol is projected to increase greatly. As the price for corn increases, so does the cost of corn based food. Both soy and wheat prices will also rise with an increase in maize production. Soy will have to “fight” with maize over land space while wheat will replace maize as livestock feed increasing demand for both, thus increasing the price. Along with crop prices increasing, the price of meat and milk will also increase due to the rising costs of livestock feed.

7. A V A I L I B I L I T Y P R I C E This much land, for how much?!?! Along with the increase in the price of corn, the price of land will also increase. As production demands increase, more and more arable land will be needed to grow the corn needed to make ethanol and with less and less land available for purchase, the price goes up. The average price of farmland in the United States went up 74% between 2000 and 2007 to $4,700 per hectare. If land is used to grow corn for ethanol, that is land space that cannot be used for growing other crops, causing a decrease in availability in such crops as soy beans. In 2007, the acreage of maize increased 19% from 2006 to the largest area planted since 1944.

8. “Give me food or give me death.” With their already difficult time paying for food, it will be nearly impossible for many people in developing countries to buy food if the cost continues to go up because of the demand of corn for fuel. “Food price volatility has the largest impact on extremely poor households, who typically spend 55–75 percent of their income on food.” The population of developing countries is projected to increase and corn production already needs to increase to keep up with the population increase. If the United States continues to increase the amount of their corn yields that go to the production of ethanol, it seems as if another country will have to step up or the US will have to greatly increase their corn yields.

9. What the rest of the world is doing: Brazil Brazil currently produces ethanol from sugarcane and is the only major exporter of bio-ethanol. The United States government has put a 54 cent a gallon tariff on ethanol imported from Brazil to protect the new ethanol industry in the US. Brazil has advantages over the United States in producing ethanol including “ample agricultural land, warm climates amenable to vast plantations, and on-site distilleries that can process cane immediately after harvest.”

10. What the rest of the world is doing: China China’s government has prevented the production of crops for fuel on land that has traditionally been used for staple grain production. Therefore, they have turned to minor crops such as cassava, sweet potato, and sweet sorghum for feedstocks. These crops are capable of growing on “marginal land” and are low cost. China hopes to produce about 1/3 of the amount of Brazil’s production from sweet sorghum stalks. An additional 23 hectares of “marginal land” is possibly available for minor crop production which would help to increase China’s ethanol production.

11. What the rest of the world is doing: European Union The European Union was originally enthusiastic about the use of bio-fuels, but have since discovered how many forests would have to be destroyed in order to have arable land for the production of crops. Also, the European Union governments realized all of the energy that must be put forth to grow crops and turn them into bio-fuel “which requires diesel fuel for tractors, and nitrogen fertilizer made with natural gas…transporting them to energy-devouring manufacturing plants.”

12. Do we have another option? As seen in the other parts of the world, corn is not the only option for producing ethanol. There are lower-cost biomass options such as rice straw-”a byproduct of harvesting rice”, and switch grass among others. These options however would take many years to take any sort of effect because “ethanol from biomass will not be commercially viable for many years.” Many say that if the United States is so set on using ethanol as its alternative energy source, the best option would be to import it from Brazil or other such countries instead of making the whole world suffer from the US using its corn crop for fuel.

13. References Bettleheim, A. (2006). Biofuels boom. CQ Researcher, 16. Retrieved March 17, 2008, from CQ Researcher Online, http://library.cqpress.com/cqresearcher/cqresrre2006092900. Burke, M. B., Cassman, K. G., Falcon, W. P., Gaskell, J. C., Liska, A. J., Naylor, R. L., & Rozelle, S. D. (2007). The ripple effect biofuels, food security, and the environment. Environment, 49(9), 30-43. Carter, C. A. & Miller, H. I. (2007). Hidden costs of corn-based ethanol. Christian Science Monitor, 99(122), 9-9. Dailey, D. (2008, February 20). Biofuels mandates increase corn demand. Southeast Farm Press, 35, 16-16. Will, G. F. (2008, February 11). Biofuels follies. Newsweek, 151, 64-64.