Word: ethanol
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...Although it appears that corn ethanol may not manage to break even on the greenhouse gas balance sheet when its detrimental side effects are taken into account, biofuels from other sources deserve a close look...
...There are at present a number of viable alternatives that inhibit our breakneck carbon-emissions trajectory and have a potential to make a serious dent on the worldwide release of greenhouse gases. Among these are ethanol derived from sugar cane, which already drives approximately 85 percent of Brazil’s cars, and soy-derived biodiesel, which helps power all the diesel-burning trucks on our campus, according to David E. Harris, Jr., the general manager of operations and finance for Harvard University Transportation Services...
...It’s easy to see why corn-derived ethanol became this sort of easy-fix solution, and why it has limited potential as a practical global replacement for gasoline going forward. Ethanol is an ace in the political deck of cards; it is backed by a powerful agricultural lobby and grown heavily in the (usually) politically indispensable state of Iowa. Moreover, the infrastructure for distilling and mixing corn-based ethanol into our fuel had been in place since it replaced methyl tert-butyl ether (MTBE) as the fuel additive of choice early this decade...
...from a practical and environmental perspective, this source of ethanol looks more like a joker. For one, its meteoric rise in the United States (where ethanol production has quintupled over the last decade) and around the world has diverted a large portion of an important food crop at a time when demand for food is soaring. This notable hurdle has everything to do with the decision to rely on corn supply: While the production of most biofuels requires land that would otherwise be used for crops, one acre of corn produces 328 gallons of ethanol, compared to 662 gallons...
...equivalent of taking about eight average American cars off the road. That isn’t bad for one relatively small college. Moreover, soy-derived biodiesel is a byproduct of soybean processing, and its production does not decrease the food supply as greatly as that of corn or sugarcane ethanol...