Are Corn Ethanol Biofuels Realistic?

Graduate Thinker Joined: Mar 26, 2008 Posts: 549

With all the increasing hype over renewable and alternative energy sources, most of everybody has heard of biofuels, particularly those derived from corn. Biofuels are being championed as good for the environment and the economy, breaking our hold on foreign oil and decreasing the amount of oil used. However, corn ethanol biofuels are less efficient to produce than gasoline and take a great amount of corn. The amount of corn needed to make such biofuels in a sufficient amount to be a viable alternative to oil would be so much as to drive up food prices. This would happen from farmers switching from other food crops to make corn for biofuel. This could in turn drive deforestation in the Amazon when farmers clear more land to provide more crops for food. In fact, it is already happening. Are corn ethanol biofuels a dependable and environmentally safe alternative, or are they an inefficient fuel source that cause more problems than they solve?

Note: corn ethanol is not the only biofuel source. The sugar cane plant converts more efficiently into oil and supplies about half of Brazil's biofuel (Brazil runs completely on biofuel) but can only be grown in certain climates.

Posted: Sat Sep 27, 2008 4:32 pm

Best to use switchgrass, classified as a weed, instead of crops that are foods. Ethenol has less energy and takes more energy to produce than gasoline. Switchgrass is a hardy plant with no other value, hence it is a weed. Use it.


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