Corn, Food vs. Fuel: November 2012

Tuesday, November 20, 2012

Corn as a Food

King Corn is a 2007 documentary that follows two college graduates on their journey to explore the agricultural backbone of America's economy. In the film, Ian Cheney and Curtis Ellis set out for Greene, Iowa to learn about the origins of corn. The two college friends decide to cultivate and farm an acre of corn for a full year. During the year in Iowa, Cheney and Ellis learn first hand how farmers raise bushels of corn to meet the nation's high demand of corn. Although the film is largely about the transitioning image of America's corn industry and the nation's high demand for corn as a food, the documentary also discusses the importance of corn to America's economy. This documentary is worth noting for its perspective of corn in the food industry. According to King Corn, if all of this corn is influencing obesity, why do we not invest a larger portion of corn into ethanol rather than corn syrup? Who knows.

Excerpt from King Corn

Ian Cheney and Curtis Ellis predict where portions of their harvest will go towards

Excerpt from King Corn

Ian Cheney and Curtis Ellis discuss with farmers to see their perspective of corn and the agriculture industry

More Info: http://www.kingcorn.net/

Wednesday, November 14, 2012

E85 Pros & Cons

Although most gasoline has some blend of ethanol in it, usually 5-10% there is one type of fuel that has 85% ethanol, E85. In the U.S. there are over 2,200 E85 gas stations but most are focused in corn growing states or where its highly subsidized. Looking at E85 availability globally, there are not very many countries that use the biofuel. Finding countries other than the U.S. that use E85 is difficult but one country that does is Sweden. In an article by Ryan C. Christiansen, in 2009 Sweden took measures to ensure that there would be over 2,000 E85 gas stations by the end of that year. This would be comparable to the U.S. There have been many studies on E85 vs gasoline in fuel performance and costs. In most studies, these are the pros and cons.

E85 Pros:

Renewable fuel, only uses 15% gasoline
Price per gallon costs less than gasoline, varies from state to state
Energy security
Environmental benefits (less air pollution etc.)

E85 Cons:

Less fuel performace/economy compared to gasoline (less mpg)
Less mpg offsets lower price (have to fill up more often)
Not readily available everywhere (only >2,200 states in all of U.S.)
Food vs. Fuel debate

http://www.examiner.com/images/blog/wysiwyg/image/e85elkriver2.jpg

To read more on the comparison in E85 and gasoline:

http://www.edmunds.com/fuel-economy/e85-vs-gasoline-comparison-test.html

http://www.cars.com/go/advice/Story.jsp?section=fuel&subject=fuelAlt&story=e85

To read more about Sweden on E85:
http://www.ethanolproducer.com/articles/5737/swedens-drive-for-e85

Sunday, November 11, 2012

Problems for Algae Fuel

So if algae fuel is so great, why isn't it out in the market? Well, the main reason that it all leads back to is money. Although algae fuel has been in R&D for over 50 years, many of the programs have been shut down. The ones still operating have low funding and aren't supported by the government unlike corn ethanol. According to some reports, algae fuel currently would cost from $10.66-19.89 per gallon which is not even close to competing with ethanol or fossil fuel. Currently, the main costs holding back algae fuel are capital costs and the extracting of oil from algae. Part of the costs of capital would be infrastructure but the main capital cost is photobioreactors. Photobioreactors are closed chamber systems to grow algae at optimal conditions instead of using open waters. The following chart shows just how expensive photobioreactors make algae fuel.

Use of photobioreactors causes price of algae fuel to almost double compared to use of open ponds. In open pond systems, algae fuel would cost about $10.66/gallon but using photobioreactors raises prices up to $19.89/gallon. Note that the majority of the cost associated with algae fuel is capital.

http://www.consumerenergyreport.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/Current-Algal-Fuel-Costs.png

http://fitsnews.files.wordpress.com/2007/12/algae-fuel.jpg

An Alternative to Ethanol: Algae Fuel?

The debate over whether corn should be used to make ethanol has been going on for quite some time now. There have been pros and cons to each side. Whether corn affects food prices, whether its efficient, there have been many questions and the answers seem to be still unclear. The United States government seems to still support corn ethanol but has slowly weaned away from it, turning its attention to other biofuels. This past drought of 2012 has affected the world supply of corn and gained attention to corn ethanol production.

An alternative to corn ethanol production in the U.S. is another biofuel, algae fuel. Recently (2012), president Barack Obama has shown support for the biofuel. Sources say that Obama's administration is spending about $14 million to help develop algae fuel. Algae fuel isn't something new, its been in research and development for over 50 years but the programs that largely do the R&D have low funding or have been shut down. This support from the president may spark a new future in biofuels for the U.S.

http://energy.korea.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/obama_algae.jpg

There are many benefits to algae fuel that make it a perfect candidate as an alternative to corn ethanol. Several studies have shown that algae fuel is very efficient, producing oil in quantities many times that of other biofuels. Algae can be virtually grown anywhere and does not need freshwater or arable land to be grown. Other benefits to algae fuel are algae use doesn't affect food prices, its environmentally friendly, and of course reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. Plus green fuel looks cool.

To learn more about algae fuel visit some of these websites:
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/08/opinion/the-droughts-alert-for-corn.html
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-02-24/obama-promotes-pond-scum-as-renewable-fuel-source.html
http://oilprice.com/Alternative-Energy/Biofuels/Why-are-we-not-Drowning-in-Algae-Biofuel.html
http://www.energyrant.com/benefits-advantages-of-algae-oil-fuel/
http://algae.ucsd.edu/potential/economic-benefits.html

Ethanol Rap

This kid is really into ethanol...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6hZ87sxdoro

Corn Ethanol Cartoons

http://forests.org/shared/alerts/img/corn_ethanol_toon.jpg

Sometimes people are so focused on global warming or greenhouse gas emissions that they lose sight of other important issues.

http://www.schillerinstitute.org/graphics/cartoons/ethanol_cartoon_shelbyv.jpg

http://turtlebella.files.wordpress.com/2007/04/ethanol.gif

Effects of U.S. Corn Ethanol on the Rest of the World

Corn ethanol production doesn't just affect the United States, it affects the whole world. According to an article by Timothy A. Wise, the U.S. production of corn ethanol has also impacted the rest of the world. Many know that corn is a staple food for many countries. The U.S. is the largest producer of corn and usually exports corn to other countries but recently, the high prices of corn have made it hard for poor countries to import U.S. corn. This leads us back to the debate over whether corn should be used as food or fuel. With the recent drought and unclear future, I believe it would be a wise choice to start looking into other biofuels more intensely and start growing more corn that's edible for humans and less for biofuels.

http://www.thecropsite.com/news/contents/CornProductionByCountry.jpg

Timothy A. Wise states:

"Of course, poor consumers are the ones most hurt by ethanol-related price increases, especially those in urban areas. Even in a net corn exporting country like Uganda, domestic corn prices spiked as international prices transmitted to local markets. Ugandans spend on average 65 per cent of their cash income on food, with poor urban consumers getting 20 per cent of their calories from corn purchased in the marketplace. More than half of Ugandans were considered "food insecure" in 2007, and the price spikes have only made that worse."

To read the rest of Wises' article: http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2012/10/201210993632838545.html

Another article regarding rising food prices due to corn ethanol production: http://www.cnn.com/2012/08/20/opinion/mcdonald-corn-ethanol/index.html

Rising Corn Prices

Remember 10 years ago when corn was really cheap? I remember when corn was on sale, it was $1 for 12 ears of corn. Steadily over the years though, corn prices have risen. Nowadays its a bargain when corn is $1 for 4 ears of corn. And yes, there has been inflation over the years but it doesn't explain why the price of corn has risen that much.

The corn grown that is used for corn ethanol production cannot be used as food for humans. However, it can be used as feedstock and has been used as feedstock for many years by farmers. But due to rising prices of corn, farmers have found alternative ways to feeding their livestock. One such way is using high fructose corn syrup candy. Also, since its mandated by law by the United States that increasing levels of ethanol be produced every year, less and less land is being used to grow corn that's edible for humans. There is only so much arable land in the United States and by using more of it on corn, other crops suffer as well.

For years now, the debate Food vs. Fuel has calmed down but due to the recent drought it has revived the debate. Many people including the United Nations have started to look into the issue more closely as the debate goes on. Many cartoons like the ones below have surfaced over the years that usually have to do with the debate, Food vs. Fuel.