For many years, US politicians have subsidized corn production and its conversion to ethanol so that it may be added to petrol as a fuel in itself as well as help to burn petrol more efficiently as well as cleanly. The hope is that ethanol will reduce greenhouse gas emissions and also help reduce America s dependence on Middle East oil. It is estimated that as many as ten million acres of land are needed to grow corn and make ethanol.
With most ethanol that is produced in the U.S being made from corn this has provided an economic stimulus to U.S. agriculture and has created a new market for corn and by expanding the production in the ethanol industry it may be a means of increasing farm income as well as reducing farm program payments and also lessen the dependence on imported fuels. Furthermore, there is more energy efficiency achieved through use of corn and ethanol and it also achieves a net gain in a better form of energy since converting corn and ethanol means using abundant domestic supplies of coal and natural gas and at the same time replaces petroleum imports.
Negative Aspects and Problems Concerning Usage of Corn and Ethanol
There are certain problems with using corn and ethanol since it requires fuel to make the corn in the first place and it has been found that an acre of U.S. corn can be used to make 328 gallons of ethanol which is fine but the planting as well as growing and harvesting of that amount of corn will need 140 gallons of fossil fuels that in itself amounts to $347 per acre which translates to $1.05 per gallon of ethanol being spent even before the corn leaves the farm. This may be further compounded by the crushing and fermentation of corn at processing plants, all of which consumes energy. The resultant end cost of producing ethanol and using corn works out to be more expensive than that of petrol.
Even then, there are many that argue that corn and ethanol are energy efficient and in fact, it gives up a third or slightly more percentage energy than it does to make it in the first place. Studies have even shown that the net energy value or NEV of corn and ethanol is rising with the passage of time and this may be due to advances in technology relating to converting ethanol as well as for better production of corn.