The previous Bush administration had an outstandingly bad position on ethanol subsidization. Under Bush, something like $9 billion was allocated in subsidies to farmers and ethanol producers. Generous subsidies under Bush were advantageous for corn farmers and ethanol producers, but problematic for consumers of corn, and for farmers in developing countries. Just from a socio-economic standpoint, ethanol production was a mess. In late 2006, the price of tortilla corn flour in Mexico, which gets 80 percent of its corn imports from the U.S., doubled because of a rise in corn prices in the United States. Also, Bush`s poor sighted plan led to a dramatic increase in domestic corn prices going up 60 percent while world corn prices increased by more than 50 percent.
Many think that ethanol is an environmentally friendly alternative with ostensible justification for reducing the amount of carbon dioxide that would normally be released with the burning of oil. However, this is false. Corn-based ethanol has to be trucked over long distances which results in more CO2 emissions released. You are also taking land away from wilderness and not growing food locally. Growing crops for fuel instead of food. This is even worse for the environment because it encourages consumers to keep buying crops that were cultivated thousands of kilometers away. At the UN climate change conference 2007 in Bali, Indonesia, a survey of 1,000 climate change professionals in 105 countries found low faith in ethanol as a low-carbon technology.
The Obama administration has a lot of work to do. But Obama has pledged to invest in cellulosic ethanol. Cellulosic ethanol is manufactured from woody plant matter (cellulose) from sources such as grasses, trees, rapeseed, switchgrass and agricultural waste. Unlike corn, these things are not traded internationally and thus do not raise food prices. If Obama follows through, he will invest federal resources like tax incentives, cash prizes and government contracts into developing two billion gallons of celluosic ethanol by 2033. Also, increasing the renewable fuel standard whereby cellulosic fuel becomes more widely available for American automobiles.
Key message: Why can`t Canada learn from Obama`s well thought out fuel policy? Cellulosic ethanol is more efficient to produce and more environmentally friendly. It is time the Minister of the Environment wakes up and time to start planning ahead.
Well put. I did an essay for Energy Science and Technology (taught by Steve Hill) on ethanol production from corn and was quite intrigued by the issue. And the negative energy balance that it creates is only one of the issue, corn from ethanol needs a lot of water that once used is turned into waste. Smell is also a big factor too (Collingwood is having major issues with the new ethanol plant and the big debate jobs vs. impact to the area). I think another issue that's interesting to look at is the capability of Canada's manufactured vehicles to handle ethanol and whether they're capable of accepting ethanol as fuel. I'm not 100% sure on this but there's an interesting video on Brazil and ethanol production and how they alternate between ethanol and gas based around the sugar cane harvests.
ReplyDeleteBut Obama is going in the right direction:)