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| Corn Based Alcohol (may be worse) for the environment. (Page 1/5) |
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blackrams
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FEB 14, 06:01 PM
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U.S. corn-based ethanol worse for the climate than gasoline, study finds
https://www.msn.com/en-us/n...ATQugr?ocid=msedgntp
(Reuters) - Corn-based ethanol, which for years has been mixed in huge quantities into gasoline sold at U.S. pumps, is likely a much bigger contributor to global warming than straight gasoline, according to a study published Monday.
The study, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, contradicts previous research commissioned by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) showing ethanol and other biofuels to be relatively green.
President Joe Biden's administration is reviewing policies on biofuels as part of a broader effort to decarbonize the U.S. economy by 2050 to fight climate change.
“Corn ethanol is not a climate-friendly fuel,” said Dr. Tyler Lark, assistant scientist at University of Wisconsin-Madison Center for Sustainability and the Global Environment and lead author of the study.
The research, which was funded in part by the National Wildlife Federation and U.S. Department of Energy, found that ethanol is likely at least 24% more carbon-intensive than gasoline due to emissions resulting from land use changes to grow corn, along with processing and combustion.
Geoff Cooper, president and CEO of the Renewable Fuels Association, the ethanol trade lobby, called the study "completely fictional and erroneous," arguing the authors used "worst-case assumptions [and] cherry-picked data."
Under the U.S. Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS), a law enacted in 2005, the nation's oil refiners are required to mix some 15 billion gallons of corn-based ethanol into the nation's gasoline annually. The policy was intended to reduce emissions, support farmers, and cut U.S. dependence on energy imports.
As a result of the mandate, corn cultivation grew 8.7% and expanded into 6.9 million additional acres of land between 2008 and 2016, the study found. That led to widespread changes in land use, including the tilling of cropland that would otherwise have been retired or enrolled in conservation programs and the planting of existing cropland with more corn, the study found.
Tilling fields releases carbon stored in soil, while other farming activities, like applying nitrogen fertilizers, also produce emissions.
A 2019 study from the USDA, which has been broadly cited by the biofuel industry, found that ethanol’s carbon intensity was 39% lower than gasoline, in part because of carbon sequestration associated with planting new cropland.
But that research underestimated the emissions impact of land conversion, Lark said.
USDA did not respond to a request for comment.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, which administers the nation's biofuel policy, is considering changes to the program. Under the RFS, Congress set blending requirements through 2022, but not beyond, giving the EPA authority to impose reforms. EPA plans to propose 2023 requirements in May.
Of this I'm sure, should this prove to be true, there's gonna be some pissed off farmers and investors but, a lot of happy motorists and motorcycle riders. I wouldn't look for any drastic changes, way too much money involved to just dump ethanol.
Rams[This message has been edited by blackrams (edited 02-14-2022).]
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Fats
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FEB 14, 06:52 PM
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I've worked from ethanol plants for years now. They use more power than they create by a lot. Not to mention the fields that are tied up growing the special corn for the plants that can't really be used for anything else.
If you get a chance to talk to some of the people working in them they would agree that it's all a waste, but the Government pays the bills and makes it profitable. 
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Raydar
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FEB 14, 08:55 PM
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| quote | Originally posted by blackrams:
Of this I'm sure, should this prove to be true, there's gonna be some pissed off farmers and investors but, a lot of happy motorists and motorcycle riders.
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Just wait... If ethanol is removed from gas, the price per gallon will rise by ~20%. Just like the non-ethanol gas that is available now.
Why? Because they can.
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maryjane
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FEB 14, 10:09 PM
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| quote | Originally posted by Fats:
Not to mention the fields that are tied up growing the special corn for the plants that can't really be used for anything else.
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You must be talking about that special corn that is fertilized with fairy dust and unicorn whiffles.
There is nothing special about the corn used to make ethanol, other than the fact that it is field corn as opposed to the sweet corn we get in our grocery store. The vast majority of field corn is yellow dent #2. Dent corn has been grown in this country since before the civil war and it can be used for everything from animal feed, to making plastics, to ethanol.
Zea mays var. indentata
A special hybrid called Enogen corn was developed by the Swiss group Syrgenta and will get the farmer a premium when used for either ethanol or animal feeds but only a few ethanol plants could use it because of the way the sugar/starch conversion happened but once they discovered Enogen's characteristics increased feed conversion in cattle and hogs by over 5%, or more
and that saved that particular culitar from oblivion. It's a yellow/black kernelled corn.[This message has been edited by maryjane (edited 02-14-2022).]
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blackrams
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FEB 14, 10:49 PM
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| quote | Originally posted by maryjane:
It's a yellow/black kernelled corn.
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Any good with butter? I have never raised a corn crop, other than in a garden. It would probably just add more weight that I don't want to gain. 
Rams
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maryjane
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FEB 14, 11:39 PM
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I've never eaten any Ron, but have eaten a LOT of dent field corn. It's a lot starchier than sweet corn but the ears are huge.
It's been lots of years (before ethanol craze even) since field corn was raised on this property and not much even then.
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Fats
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FEB 15, 08:01 AM
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OK, I worked there, but you are the expert since you ate it once I guess. All I did was drive the truck and drool a lot.
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maryjane
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FEB 15, 08:17 AM
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I never said I ate any "special" ethanol corn.
I ate yellow dent field corn which is the corn the majority of ethanol is made from.
Ethanol corn question
I know the corn used for ethanol production is different than sweet corn for grocery stores but is it any different than the corn used for livestock feed?
Is there a 'special' type or species that has to be used for ethanol plants?
From W. Central Ill corn and soybean farmer:
#2 yellow dent corn. Which is what 99% of all field corn is. Same as what animal feed is made of. Enogen corn will get a premium, but not all plants can take it.
From another farmer in SE Ill: Lots of corn from here goes to Valero in Mt Vernon IN for ethanol. It's all regular old field corn.
| quote | 7.3a Composition of Corn and Yield of Ethanol from Corn
As established in the previous section, corn has the least expensive total cost for ethanol production. So what part of the corn is used for ethanol? Primarily the corn kernel is used for ethanol production. Figure 7.8 shows the general composition of corn. It is a picture of yellow dent corn, which is commonly used for ethanol production. |
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| quote | Iowa ranks number one in producing corn, soybeans, hogs, eggs, ethanol and Dry Distillers Grain Solubles (DDGS) which serve as a premium source of protein for livestock. It also ranks fourth in beef cattle.
In 2019, Iowa farmers produced around 2.58 billion bushels of corn for grain and harvested 13.1 million acres according to the U.S. Department of Agricultural Statistics Service.
SWEET CORN VS. FIELD CORN
Only one percent of corn planted in the United States is sweet corn.
99 percent of corn grown in Iowa is “Field Corn”. When Iowa’s corn farmers deliver corn from the field, it’s “Field Corn”. Not the delicious sweet corn you might enjoy on the cob or in a can.
Field corn is the classic big ears of yellow dented corn you see dried and harvested in the fall. It’s called “dent corn” because of the distinctive dent that forms on the kernel as the corn dries.
While a small portion of “Field Corn” is processed for use as corn cereal, corn starch, corn oil and corn syrup for human consumption, it is primarily used for livestock feed, ethanol production and manufactured goods. It’s considered a grain. |
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| quote | t first sight, I chuckled, but after reading a few comments below it. I felt compelled to address it. The Mom in the cartoon is relating sweet corn consumption and hunger to Ethanol use. The fact is, Ethanol is NOT made from Sweet Corn at all. It is NOT made from the same Corn you buy in your produce isle or farmers market to have at your next meal.
Ethanol is in fact made from #2 yellow dent corn. Never heard of it? Sure you have, if you have ever seen a field of corn while driving down the interstate, more than likely it’s a field of #2 Yellow Dent Corn, more commonly known as field corn. |
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| quote | Field Corn Is Big Business
Field corn is also known as yellow dent corn, as the kernels become indented with maturity. Although growing on fertile land the size of California, field corn is indigestible to humans without processing. But due to subsidies from the federal government which encourage more is better, industry has found a multitude of other uses for this water hungry, highly fertilized, shallow-rooted annual. The majority of field corn (40 percent) is used for ethanol, and 37 percent is used to rapidly fatten up grass-loving livestock. So, seventy six percent of the field corn grown in the United States is used for cars and grain-fed meat. 11 percent is used to make processed corn products, i.e. corn syrup, corn flour, and corn starch. |
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| quote | Depart. of Agricultural Economics, Purdue University
West Lafayette, IN 47907-1145
wtyner@purdue.edu
Staff Paper # 06-04
April 24, 2006
Abstract
Ethanol, the common name for ethyl alcohol, is fuel grade alcohol that is predominately
produced through the fermentation of simple carbohydrates by yeasts. In the United States, the
carbohydrate feedstock most commonly used in the commercial production of ethanol is yellow
dent corn (YDC) |
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But, you worked from there....[This message has been edited by maryjane (edited 02-15-2022).]
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olejoedad
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FEB 15, 08:24 AM
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And most ethanol plants have a dry ice plant to "capture" CO2.......
The emissions from the melting dry ice were not included in the original calculation of CO2 impact from the production process, as the dry ice was considered a product.
There was a lot of mathematical shenanigans associated with this "green" project.
Most of the "green" was in the form of money.....
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82-T/A [At Work]
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FEB 15, 08:44 AM
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| quote | Originally posted by blackrams:
U.S. corn-based ethanol worse for the climate than gasoline, study finds
https://www.msn.com/en-us/n...ATQugr?ocid=msedgntp
(Reuters) - Corn-based ethanol, which for years has been mixed in huge quantities into gasoline sold at U.S. pumps, is likely a much bigger contributor to global warming than straight gasoline, according to a study published Monday.
The study, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, contradicts previous research commissioned by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) showing ethanol and other biofuels to be relatively green.
President Joe Biden's administration is reviewing policies on biofuels as part of a broader effort to decarbonize the U.S. economy by 2050 to fight climate change.
“Corn ethanol is not a climate-friendly fuel,” said Dr. Tyler Lark, assistant scientist at University of Wisconsin-Madison Center for Sustainability and the Global Environment and lead author of the study.
The research, which was funded in part by the National Wildlife Federation and U.S. Department of Energy, found that ethanol is likely at least 24% more carbon-intensive than gasoline due to emissions resulting from land use changes to grow corn, along with processing and combustion.
Geoff Cooper, president and CEO of the Renewable Fuels Association, the ethanol trade lobby, called the study "completely fictional and erroneous," arguing the authors used "worst-case assumptions [and] cherry-picked data."
Under the U.S. Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS), a law enacted in 2005, the nation's oil refiners are required to mix some 15 billion gallons of corn-based ethanol into the nation's gasoline annually. The policy was intended to reduce emissions, support farmers, and cut U.S. dependence on energy imports.
As a result of the mandate, corn cultivation grew 8.7% and expanded into 6.9 million additional acres of land between 2008 and 2016, the study found. That led to widespread changes in land use, including the tilling of cropland that would otherwise have been retired or enrolled in conservation programs and the planting of existing cropland with more corn, the study found.
Tilling fields releases carbon stored in soil, while other farming activities, like applying nitrogen fertilizers, also produce emissions.
A 2019 study from the USDA, which has been broadly cited by the biofuel industry, found that ethanol’s carbon intensity was 39% lower than gasoline, in part because of carbon sequestration associated with planting new cropland.
But that research underestimated the emissions impact of land conversion, Lark said.
USDA did not respond to a request for comment.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, which administers the nation's biofuel policy, is considering changes to the program. Under the RFS, Congress set blending requirements through 2022, but not beyond, giving the EPA authority to impose reforms. EPA plans to propose 2023 requirements in May.
Of this I'm sure, should this prove to be true, there's gonna be some pissed off farmers and investors but, a lot of happy motorists and motorcycle riders. I wouldn't look for any drastic changes, way too much money involved to just dump ethanol.
Rams
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I guess I'd always thought this was common knowledge. I didn't know one way or another, but I'd always heard this. I know that energy efficiency drops with ethanol... in the same way that natural gas is less efficient than actual petroleum. But this caught my eye...
"Under the U.S. Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS), a law enacted in 2005, the nation's oil refiners are required to mix some 15 billion gallons of corn-based ethanol into the nation's gasoline annually. The policy was intended to reduce emissions, support farmers, and cut U.S. dependence on energy imports."
I realize there's all kinds of situations where the Government can just arbitrarily say (you will do this...) ... but how can the Government just say YOU MUST do this? I mean, I guess gas is heavily regulated, both via standards and other things.
I also noticed that around the same time... early 2000s, we started using "Corn Syrup" instead of cane sugar... so I assume that has a lot to do with the corn subsidy as well. Really, I understand we're supporting farmers, but we're basically making them produce things that we don't want, and isn't really good for us.
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