Wilkes Beacon, PA
11-11-07
Ethanol: fuel additive does more harm than good
Beacon Editoral Board
Ethanol is touted as the world's solution to rising oil prices. Despite its many
promises of offering cleaner burning fuel and lessening American dependence on
Middle East oil, the "miracle of the Midwest" may be anything but.
Since ethanol is a corn based product, the demand for corn has already
increased. While that is good for farmers, it is problematic for everyone else.
According to a recent New York Times op-ed piece, corn prices are up about 50
percent this year, and soybean prices are expected to rise by up to 30 percent in
the coming year.
Additionally, the increasing cost of animal feed is causing the price of dairy and
poultry products to rise.
A study by Iowa State University found that the average American is now
spending $47 more on their groceries since July because of the push for ethanol.
Additionally, the increase in corn prices will push ethanol prices to rise.
Land use also becomes an issue for ethanol production. Currently, President
Bush and Luiz Inacio Lula de Sila, president of Brazil, are negotiaing to promote
sugar-cane based ethanol. However, according to the head of a United Nations
environment program, such a move could be a death sentence for the Amazon
rainforest.
According to an Associated Press report, "Achim Steiner, head of the U.N.
Environment Program, added his voice, saying that growing international
demand for ethanol threatens the Amazon if safeguards are not put in place
because the world's largest remaining tropical wilderness is a target area for
agriculture."
Ethanol is also proven to be slightly dirtier than gasoline with regard to pollution,
according to a Stanford University study.
The Associated Press reported that Stanford University civil and environmental
engineering professor Mark Jacobson said, "It's not green in terms of air
pollution. If you want to use ethanol, fine, but don't do it based on health grounds.
It's no better than gasoline, apparently slightly worse."
Even the water supply is at a risk. The National Research Council released a
report stating, "Both water quality and the availability of water could be
threatened by sharply increasing crops such as corn for ethanol."
Since more crops will be required to fill the demand, more will be grown, and
more pesticides and fertilizers will be used to ensure these crops will be usable.
These chemicals will run off the crops and seep into the ground water, oceans,
and rivers. More water is also going to be needed to keep these crops alive,
which will have a direct impact on water supplies.
And, the main crutch of the argument, which is that ethanol will decrease
dependence on foreign oil, is false.
"The process involved in growing grain and then transforming it into ethanol
requires more energy from fossil fuels than ethanol generates," according to an
article published in Business Week.
Therefore, the United States is still dependent on foreign oil for the production of
the thing that is intended to lessen our dependency.
Additionally, ethanol cannot be transmitted through pipes like gasoline because it
will pick up impurities and water along the way, rendering it unusable. It has to be
trucked from the refinery to its destination, thereby using more gasoline.
Thus, ethanol is not the panacea of the world's fuel problems. Seemingly, it
causes more problems than it solves. Further research and funding needs to be
directed toward other renewable resources for fuel, such as electric and solarbased products, because ethanol just will not do the job sufficiently.