Converting corn to fuel is a double-edged sword
Ethanol not the cure-all some believe
by Don Gordon, special to the Mankato Free Press
As each day passes, the drum beats louder for increased production of biofuels. From the president down, many of the nation’s politicians have become cheerleaders of various plant species to fuel our vehicles.
Whether it is ethanol from corn or switchgrass, biodiesel from soybeans, sunflowers or canola, there are environmental costs that must be weighed against the economic benefits. No one has examined the environmental costs of biofuel production more than David Pimentel and his colleagues at Cornell University. Let’s look at some of their concerns and the concerns of others.
Soil erosion
American agriculture is clearly not sustainable and nothing illustrates this more clearly than soil erosion. With current farming practices we are losing soil 10 times faster than sustainability. Corn, for example, erodes soil 18 times faster than it can reform. Great hope has been placed on developing techniques that would produce ethanol from cellulose plant parts that are currently unused. For example, we might use corn stover to produce fuel, but Pimentel points out that without the protection of crop residues, soil loss may increase 100-fold.
(Continued here.)
by Don Gordon, special to the Mankato Free Press
As each day passes, the drum beats louder for increased production of biofuels. From the president down, many of the nation’s politicians have become cheerleaders of various plant species to fuel our vehicles.
Whether it is ethanol from corn or switchgrass, biodiesel from soybeans, sunflowers or canola, there are environmental costs that must be weighed against the economic benefits. No one has examined the environmental costs of biofuel production more than David Pimentel and his colleagues at Cornell University. Let’s look at some of their concerns and the concerns of others.
Soil erosion
American agriculture is clearly not sustainable and nothing illustrates this more clearly than soil erosion. With current farming practices we are losing soil 10 times faster than sustainability. Corn, for example, erodes soil 18 times faster than it can reform. Great hope has been placed on developing techniques that would produce ethanol from cellulose plant parts that are currently unused. For example, we might use corn stover to produce fuel, but Pimentel points out that without the protection of crop residues, soil loss may increase 100-fold.
(Continued here.)
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