Corn Ethanol

The comments made by former US Vice-President - Al Gore, hinting that the governments support for the development of corn based ethanol in the United States was not a good idea has irked the proponents of corn ethanol and brought this issue to the debating table yet once again. The United States of America has been subsidizing corn production and using it for production of ethanol since quite some time now. Those in support of corn ethanol claim that the same can be used as a replacement for gasoline - wherein it acts as a fuel by itself, or along with gasoline - wherein it helps gasoline burn more efficiently, and therefore serves a dual purpose.

Corn Ethanol

One of the most spoken about replacement for fossil fuels, ethanol is basically produced by industrial fermentation, chemical distilling and distillation of plant matter. In the United States of America, the most widely used plant for production of ethanol is corn - the product of which is known as corn ethanol. There are two methods by which it is processed - dry milling and wet milling, both of which differ from each other on the basis of how the grain is treated in the initial stages of production. More importantly, the products of each of these two processes are utilized in different ways. It is more often used as an oxygenate to gasoline in vehicles. It is also used as a biofuel in E85 flex-fuel vehicles. It is this use of corn ethanol fuel which has bought it in the spotlight for all good as well as bad reasons.

Advantages

One of the most important point on the basis of which the proponents of corn ethanol argue that it is an apt replacement for fossil fuel is the fact that it doesn't pollute the environment like various fossil fuels do. It also boasts of adding to the efficiency of gasoline by acting as a agent of oxygenation thus resulting is less of harmful emissions. You don't have to resort to an expensive hybrid vehicle, as adding corn ethanol to gasoline in your vehicle will help you reduce emissions by a significant extent. When it comes to the United States of America, the abundant availability of corn (maize) within the country is the biggest advantage. Corn harvesting is a relatively easy task, as it takes a mere six months to grow corn which is suitable for production of ethanol. On the economic front, the proponents of this alternative fuel argue that it will reduce America's dependence of oil imports from the Middle East - which is the most promising advantage of them all.

Disadvantages

While all the advantages seem to be quite promising, there are some aspects which need to be given a serious though before giving it a clean chit. The critics are of the opinion that the proponents don't take into consideration the tremendous amount of electricity used for ethanol processing. The critics further state that the amount of coal burned to produce this electricity results in emissions of harmful greenhouse gases, and therefore one has to be taken into consideration this factor when trying to determine whether the use of ethanol is really a viable option or not. Some critics also argue that the environmental damage caused by use of ethanol is more than the same caused by fossil fuels. Similarly, the chemicals used in fertilizers and pesticides which are used for growing corn are also quite harmful for the environment. More importantly, use of biofuels such as corn ethanol also increases the price of grains and affects our food stores. On the economic front, corn ethanol is bad for business and it is evident from the fact that the rise of price of corn tends to trigger a rise in price of all the other commodities related to it. The price of corn per bushel has increased from $2 a bushel in 2006 to $5 in 2009, and domino effects of the same are not at all difficult to realize.

When the above mentioned pros and cons are weighed against each other, the end results are quite conflicting and thus add to the dilemma. At the end of the day, if the environmental damage caused as a result of corn ethanol use is more than (or same as) that by fossil fuels, there is no point in investing in the same and putting our food stores at the risk.