Ethanol questions

Posted at 7:29 AM on July 11, 2006 by Mike Mulcahy (3 Comments)

There's an interesting AP piece picked up today on the Pioneer Press business page:

WASHINGTON (AP) - Ethanol is far from a cure-all for the nation's energy problems. It's not as environmentally friendly as some supporters claim and would supply only 12 percent of U.S. motoring fuel - even if every acre of corn were used.

A number of researchers, the latest in a report Monday, are warning about exaggerated expectations that ethanol could dramatically change America's dependence on foreign oil by shifting motorists away from gasoline.

As far as alternative fuels are concerned, biodiesel from soybeans is the better choice compared with corn-produced ethanol, University of Minnesota researchers concluded in an analysis Monday.

But "neither can replace much petroleum without impacting food supplies," the researchers concluded in the paper published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Of course it seems every Minnesota politician is a strong supporter of ethanol. And it's hard to argue against ethanol as an economic development tool for much of rural Minnesota. But there are some questions voters should be asking as politicians knock at your door. Here are two:

What measures beyond ethanol do you support to end U.S. dependence on foreign oil?

What happens to rural Minnesota when the ethanol boom goes bust?

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Comments (3)

The American Lung Association of Minnesota, which strongly supports E85 and biodiesel fuels, has never claimed that these homegrown alternative fuels are a "cure all" for our nation's energy problems.

In fact, our focus in not on energy, but rather on outdoor air pollution. Vehicle exhaust is the single largest source of outdoor air pollution in Minnesota, helping drivers to choose a "clean air choice" of E85 or biodiesel is an important priority for our organization. Both fuels produce less air pollution than petroleum-only fuels, as the study shows.

As I wrote in a May 22, 2006 St. Paul Pioneer Press editorial, there is no "silver bullet" solution to outdoor air pollution. In addition to using cleaner-burning biofuels, we encourage Minnesota drivers to reduce vehicle-miles through mass transit, carpooling abd telecommuting; support cleaner technologies like hybrid vehicles and continue to invest in promising (but not yet practical or proven) technologies like hydrogen-fueled vehicles.

Much more on this on our dedicated website:
www.CleanAirChoice.org

Bob Moffitt
Communications Director
American Lung Association of Minnesota

Posted by Bob from ALAMN | July 11, 2006 8:24 AM

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We also need to make sure we understand that manufacturing ethanol can be done the "right" way environmentally or the "wrong" way and too often here in Minnesota we are doing it the wrong way. Why trade one environmental problem for another? Wrong is using dirty old-fashioned coal technology as a fuel source. Wrong is not being conservative about water use---ethanol plants use enormous amounts of water and often in parts of the state that are short on that resource to begin with.
"Right" is to build these plants where there is adequate water, strictly control their air pollution and start to think about incentives for cellulosic ethanol from prairie grasses and incentives for smart water use, not just build conventional corn plants every 50 miles.
Finally, we simply need to better conserve and change our behaviors in conjunction with alternative fuels. We can't let ethanol lull us into thinking we don't have to change.

Posted by Janette Brimmer, Legal Director, Minnesota Center for Environmental Advocacy | December 6, 2006 3:14 PM

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Ms. Brimmer is spot on with her comments. The fact that two of Minnesota's 17 ethanol plants are moving to alternative fuel sources is a good sign. We need to encourage this trend. There will be much more effort in 2007 to make cellulosic ethanol profitable. In the meanwhile, we need help build the E85 infrastructure to pave the way for grass-based ethanol and even cleaner fuels in our future.

Posted by Bob from ALAMN | January 5, 2007 7:17 AM

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