Corn-based ethanol distills other concerns

Is ethanol the answer? Maybe not if it's derived from corn.

There are many reasons why society is seeking alternatives to gasoline. The top reason for consumers might be price, which is not only on a steady upward trend but is now as volatile as the fuel itself.

Then there's the fact that crude oil is a dwindling resource and destined to become both scarcer and more expensive. Burning it also contributes to environmental problems such as air quality and climate change.

But finding an alternative that will satisfy our fuel needs as well as gasoline remains a tall order.

With a century of investment in gasoline and its infrastructure, we are conditioned to "fill it up" in just one way. Which is why, when considering alternatives, "it's important for customer acceptance that we don't ask people to deviate too much from what they're used to," says Bryon Stremler, manager of advanced technology and powertrain at Toyota Canada.

It is also one reason why automakers, particularly the Detroit Three (Chrysler, Ford and General Motors), are bullish on ethanol as both a supplement and a primary replacement for gasoline. As a liquid, it can be mixed with and distributed much in the same way as gasoline.

Speaking at a recent ethanol conference in Indianapolis, Beth Lowery, GM's vice-president for energy and the environment, stated, "We believe that ethanol used in high blends like E85 (85 per cent ethanol, 15 per cent gasoline) offers the best near-term solution to offset increased oil demand."

ethanol

Ethanol is simply ethyl alcohol – the stuff in alcoholic beverages. It is produced by a fermentation process from multiple starch- and sugar-based sources, of which corn, grains, sugar cane and sugar beets are the most common.

In spite of that broad array of feedstock, over 95 per cent of ethanol produced in North America is derived from corn.

Encouraged by vigorous lobbying that portrays ethanol as reducing auto emissions, offsetting the demand for imported oil and supporting farmers, politicians and their administrative arms in Canada and the U.S. have become enamoured of corn-based fuel.

Our federal government's ecoENERGY for Biofuels program has committed up to $1.5 billion over nine years, of which ethanol is a major benefactor.

Several jurisdictions on both sides of the border, including Ontario, currently mandate a quantity of ethanol – typically 5 per cent – in gasoline. Ottawa recently passed a bill (C-33) requiring a similar concentration nationwide by 2010.

To encourage the use of even more-concentrated forms of ethanol, U.S. regulators offer fuel-mileage credits of up to 1.2 miles per gallon to automakers for building flex-fuel vehicles – vehicles that can run on gasoline or E85 or a combination. Automakers responded with vigour. There are now over six million flex-fuel vehicles on the road in North America.

But the enthusiasm for ethanol has cooled as questions arise concerning the environmental benefits of its production, use and the wisdom of using food crops for fuel.

There are valid arguments both for and against.

pros

Chief among ethanol's environmental attributes, it is inherently CO2-neutral, according to Frank Dottori of Greenfield Ethanol, Canada's largest ethanol producer. Carbon dioxide is a greenhouse gas that is now widely accepted as a major contributor to climate change.

"It's basic science," Dottori explains. Ethanol produced from renewable plant matter is part of a closed carbon cycle.

The CO2 released by the combustion of ethanol is reclaimed from the atmosphere by photosynthesis in new plants. So only the CO2 emissions from the activities involved in growing, harvesting and processing the crop actually contribute to its CO2 output.

In the case of fossil fuels, there is no corresponding offset, so ethanol always has an advantage, says Dottori. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency estimates that E85 from corn could reduce net CO2 output by 15 to 20 per cent compared to gasoline.

Ethanol also results in significant reductions in emissions of carbon monoxide, a smog precursor, and also particulates and toxic compounds.

The energy balance for ethanol – energy released relative to energy invested – is also a contentious issue, but most studies now concur that it is at least slightly positive (for ethanol produced from corn), with a recovery ratio of about 1.3 being a generally accepted figure.

cons

Prominent among the arguments against ethanol is the use of food crops and associated land for fuel production and the corresponding effect on food prices.

According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, about a third of this year's projected 12.1 billion-bushel corn crop will go toward ethanol production in 2008-09, up from 25 per cent in 2007.

Meanwhile, the price of corn surged to about $5.75 (U.S.) a bushel, almost twice what it was less than two years ago, and the prices of soybeans and wheat increased in parallel.

Riots erupted last fall in Mexico when the price of tortillas more than doubled in a few months, purportedly because of ethanol's effect on corn prices.

The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development says higher demand for biofuels is causing "fundamental changes" to agricultural markets that could drive up prices.

But it is unrealistic to place all the blame on ethanol, its proponents argue.

According to the U.S. White House Council of Economic Advisors, the production of cornstarch ethanol is responsible for just 3 per cent of the 43 per cent rise in world food prices last year.

There is also the matter of water. Producing ethanol from corn is a water-intensive process.

Exact figures depend on the source, but there is general agreement that it takes at least three litres of water to produce one litre of ethanol, and in some cases that ratio is as much as 5-to-1.

All told, there are enough negatives to cast serious doubt on the sustainability of an ethanol industry based on corn – especially given government mandates in both Canada and the U.S. for further dramatic increases in production.

If ethanol has a future as an automobile fuel, and it almost certainly does, it may necessitate a change from corn as the primary feedstock.

source:thestar