A corny question

Yes, ethanol produced from grains like corn may be a renewable source of energy that sends less greenhouse gas emissions into the atmosphere. But some have criticised the energy it takes to actually produce ethanol – including fuel for the machinery, pesticides, transportation, and nitrogen fertilizer, which is made by using fossil fuels– barely compensates for the reduced greenhouse gas emissions when we use it to fill up at the pumps.

Then, there is also the ongoing world food crisis, which has seen prices of grains like wheat, rice, and corn rise drastically. Again, some critics have said agricultural land used for the production of corn for ethanol means less food for people, a factor behind the current crisis.

According to Don Smith, the chair of McGill University’s Department of plant Science, it’s a little more complicated than that.

“You’ve got to ask yourself some hard questions about that,” he said. According to Smith, increased wealth in Asian countries has lead to increased demand for meat. And there are “hidden fossil fuels” in meat production, Smith said. As a matter of fact, it can take up to 10 kilos of plant material to produce one kilo of meat. And with energy prices going up, the cost of producing food goes up, too.

World grain stocks have also gone down drastically, Smith said. While we used to have enough stocked away for about half a year, we’re now covered for about 40 days, Smith said.

“Food stocks have been going down for years, and that’s going to continue, whether or not biofuels are in the mix,” Smith said, adding things, such as a growing population factor into this issue a lot more. “But, with that in mind, we shouldn’t be using food for fuel that could otherwise be on someone’s table.”

Corn ethanol may be fairly easy to make, but according to Smith, it diverts feed from cattle to produce food for people. It also takes quite a bit of energy to make – between one unit to three or four, as a matter of fact. In comparison, chicken can take as little as one to two.

Corn ethanol does not seem to be the best option for greener gas, but that doesn’t mean we need to give up on biofuels just yet. For example, biodiesel is made from soy beans that don’t need nitrogen fertilizer and can be grown on lower quality agricultural land. That means it takes less energy to make, and takes away less prime land for growing food.

Another is sugar cane-based ethanol. Again, this crop doesn’t need any nitrogen fertilizer. And instead of using fossil fuels, the leaves and other biomass left over after the sugar has been taken out are burnt to use as a heat source for the distillation process.

Sugar cane-based ethanol has an energy value of about one to eight. One more hope for biofuels, Smith pointed out, are materials from things like fast-growing grasses and trees. They don’t need nitrogen fertilizers, don’t take away from agricultural land where food is produced, and can carry energy values between two all the way up to 40.

“Most are over 10,” Smith said.

Even though these newer types of bio-fuels aren’t available at the pumps just yet, they do give some food- or should I say fuel – for thought.