Ethanol By Any Other Name

With the high price of Crude Oil, a costly ripple effect is working its way through our economy. However many experts believe that the high price of food has mostly been caused by the farming community switching over to crops best suited for Ethanol conversion. It is a wicked cycle that hasn't finished altering our food supply and prices.

Farmers (and farming conglomerates) are switching more and more acreage to Ethanol corn production because of the amazing prices they can reap from such a crop. Land that was once used for Wheat, Hops, Barley and other grains is now being utilized for Ethanol. And most of the corn and grain capacity used last year for animal feed is now being shipped to fuel processing plants.

Now advocates are saying that the more Ethanol we use helps us relieve some of our dependency on foreign oil. The truth is a little different. Ethanol still needs to be mixed with that foreign fuel. A recent study states that if we converted all our corn, wheat, soybean and rice, it would replace only 5% of our fuel needs.

As for other disadvantages, Ethanol mixed fuel is not that fuel efficient. Your vehicle will get less MPGs from the mix. Also detractors say that the long-term use of alternative fuels can cause unusual wear and tear on an engine. Some even say that an engine will run 'dirty' by using the grain-alcohol mix. Also there has been a lot of talk of how it causes more enviromental damage than the process of refining Crude Oil.

Here is more information concerning Ethanol production:

• According to government estimates, nearly a fourth of all agriculture production this year will be for Ethanol production. That is a total of over 3 billion bushels of corn alone.
• Energy Information Administration forecasts that Ethanol production will rise this year by a third, to more than 8 billion gallons. If everything stays the same, by 2016, it will be at 14 billion gallons. Our overall fuel appetite this year is currently at 136 billion gallons.
• To help counter the skyrocketing price for animal feed, some producers are switching to outdated snacks and candies. In Pennsylvania, farmers are using returned/rejected Hershey products to augment the diet at pig farms. Also farms in North Carolina are feeding pigs and cattle cheese curls, trail mix, breakfast cereals, peanut butter and just about anything rejected by the food industry.
• And to make matters worse, the price of BEER is going up from an Ethanol based shortage of hops and barley. The price has already rose to 3% over last year. And government experts expect it to continue to rise this year.

Considering how our economy and government is so market-driven, I have my doubts whether we will ever put the 'Ethanol Monkey' back in the bag. But with new congressional hearings on this situation, and people screaming for reasonable food prices, I expect something to be done about how much farmers can plant in Ethanol crops. If it came down to it, we can always drive less, but eating less is too much to expect!