It takes a lot of fresh water both to grow corn and to convert it into ethanol 4


Given the exceptionally dry weather this year, it's definitely time to rethink the mandates on ethanol production until we get some high-volume cellulosic ethanol production online.  Not only does cellulosic ethanol not rely on edible crops for a feedstock, most of the leading processes only use a fraction of the water required for the current dry-mill corn processes. 

As Drought Spreads, Should the U.S. Put Ethanol on Hold?
In an op-ed in today’s New York Times, agriculture and public policy experts argue that the U.S. should suspend its mandate to create corn ethanol because the summer’s drought is putting so m…

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4 thoughts on “It takes a lot of fresh water both to grow corn and to convert it into ethanol

  • Robert Moffitt

    Cellulosic ethanol sounds great on paper and in the lab, but so far no one has managed to make the stuff on a comercial level as cheaply and efficiently as corn ethanol. That said, perhaps this drought can spur cellulosic ethanol forward. I hope so.
    Here in Minnesota, we have not been hit as hard by heat and drought as much of the rest of the Corn Belt. Some corn farmers in the southest are doing well, too, I hear.

  • Robert Moffitt

    Cellulosic ethanol sounds great on paper and in the lab, but so far no one has managed to make the stuff on a comercial level as cheaply and efficiently as corn ethanol. That said, perhaps this drought can spur cellulosic ethanol forward. I hope so.
    Here in Minnesota, we have not been hit as hard by heat and drought as much of the rest of the Corn Belt. Some corn farmers in the southest are doing well, too, I hear.