Good food equals a good time, right? Society equates everything to food. The theater experience is not the same without popcorn and neither is thanksgiving without Grandma’s corn pudding. Almost everything consumed today is either made from corn or it is a direct result of corn. For instance, beef, chicken, and farmed fish are all fed corn. If the statement is true that you are what you eat, then people are walking kernels of corn. Because of the threat of global warming, scientists are now looking at corn in a different light. How about turning corn into fuel? Not only will people be walking corn kernels, but their mode of transportation will be turned into one as well. And why not let the good times roll right into the vehicle and out of the pocketbook? Producing corn fuel sounds good on paper; however it is not as cheap as people would think. Although labeled an alternative to traditional fuel, using corn as fuel will cause financial woes because corn is raising the price of food, processing corn into ethanol is very expensive and cars receive less miles per gallon which means more fill-ups.
It is no secret that the price of corn is rising. Mercer (2007) has reported that “meat and dairy prices have increased since late summer 2006 – 6.7 percent for ground beef, 6.9 percent for chicken breasts, and a painful 26 percent for whole milk.” Mercer (2007) goes on to say that Tyson, one of the largest meat processors, has already claimed to raise the price of their meat to pass on the upward rising price of corn. Right now, close to 80% of corn production is sold to meat processors. So, if all the corn meant for them is turned into ethanol for fuel, it not only affects the
The processing of corn into ethanol is almost identical to a brewery. Corn is basically made into beer first and then distilled further into a very refined alcohol. (CBS) According to www.howstuffworks.com, it takes about 26 pounds of corn to make 1 gallon of ethanol. This site also says that because of the amount of work that goes into making corn into ethanol, the price per gallon before the distilling process begins is usually around $1.05 per gallon. (howstuffworks.com, 2001) There is also not enough corn to produce the amount of fuel needed to satisfy everyone’s needs. Right now, most of the corn that is grown is for consumption with only a small portion given for ethanol fuel. There really are not enough acres of land to plant the corn needed to produce ethanol. Ecologist David Pimentel also argues that it takes more energy to make the corn into ethanol than the actual energy that ethanol produces. (Lang 2005)
According to Assistant Professor Kristala Jones Prather of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, ethanol is not as efficient as gasoline. She states, “Ethanol has only 70 percent of the energy density of gasoline, making it less efficient, and it’s tendency to absorb water makes corrosion a concern for the current
The thought of using ethanol is appealing because it is a cleaner fuel and it is friendlier to the environment. However, corn is not the most efficient source to use and further research needs to be done to find a source that will not only be environmentally friendly, but will be cheaper than our current gas prices. Part of the point of saving the environment is so that it can be enjoyed in the future. How can we enjoy our clean environment if we are too broke to do anything fun? The whole point of alternative fuel is to discover a product that is not only great for the environment but also inexpensive. Future endeavors include looking into making cellulose into ethanol. This might be a more efficient endeavor since cellulose is found in almost every living thing from corn to grass to trees.
References
Lang, S.S., (2005). Cornell ecologist’s study finds that producing ethanol and biodiesel
from corn and other crops is not worth the energy. Cornell University news Service.
Retrieved October 17, 2007 from www.news.cornell.edu/stories /July05/
ethanol.toocostly.ssl.html
Morrison, D. (2006). Ethanol fuel presents a corn-undrum.
News. Retrieved October 17, 2007 from www1.umn.edu/umnnews/Feature_Stories
/Ethanol_fuel_presents_a_cornundrum.html
Fleischauer, E. (2006). Is corn ethanol a viable fuel? Experts disagree. The Decature
Daily News. Retrieved on October 17, 2007 from www.decaturedaily.com/
decaturedaily/news/060918/ethanol.shtml
Associated Press (2005). Corn powered fuel catching on. CBS News. Retrieved on
October 17, 2007 from cbsnews.com/stories/2005/06/28/tech/printable704947.shtml
CBS (2006). The ethanol solution. CBS News. Retrieved on October 17, 2007 from
www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/05/04/60minuutes/printable1588659.shtml
www.howstuffworks.com. (2001) How much corn would I need in order to produce
enough ethanol fuel to drive my car across the country? www.howstuffworks.com
Retrieved on October 17, 2007 from www.howstuffworks.com/question707.htm
Trafton, A. (2007, February 8). MIT experts forsee sustainable ethanol production.
Massachusetts Institute of Technology News Office. Retrieved on October 17, 2007
from web.mit.edu/newsoffice/2007/print/biofuels-print.html
3 comments:
I'd like to edit your rough draft. I'll have it done later today. :-)
Workshop Questions
Cause/Effect Workshop
Thesis:
1. Restate the thesis in your own words. If the thesis is a question and not an assertion, make it an assertion. Make sure the words “although” and "because" are in it.
Although it looks good on paper,
corn fuel is not a good alternative to gasoline because it raises food prices, is expensive to manufacture, and is inefficient.
2. Does the thesis argue a link between a cause(s) and effect(s)? Is it at the end of the first paragraph?
Yes it does
3. List the cause(s).
Using corn fuel
4. List the effect(s).
Will raise food prices
Cost more to make
Gets bad mileage
Audience:
Who is the author's audience? Will the audience already agree with the author, or is the author writing to the opposition? How can you tell? Give specific examples.
The audience would be anyone who uses fuel and lives in the US. The author discusses current fuel costs and the effect on our economy of alternative sources.
Counterargument:
List the counterarguments (arguments of the author’s oppositions) used in the paper (there should be at least three). Does the author adequately address these arguments? Do you think there are other arguments that could be addressed? Do you see any logical fallacies?
1. Food prices are rising because of fuel costs.
2. According to the U.S. Ethanol industry, 1 million harvested acres of corn can be converted into 420 million gallons. That would mean 1 acre would be 420 gallons.
3. It does cost more to fuel a car with corn but we would save money because gas cost more. This was argued in the paper.
Title:
Does the paper have an interesting title? If not, help author come up with one.
Although I liked the title. However, I felt the article was more about Ethanol production and use.
Introduction:
Is there a catchy lead sentence? What is it? If there isn't one, what would you suggest?
I liked the lead sentences. Good food equals a good time. It made me want to read more about the good times.
Conclusion:
How does the author conclude the paper? What do you think of it?
The author discussed the new technology of making ethanol from cellulose. I can’t cold see where that was discussed at the beginning of the paper. It mostly focused on the effects of increased production of ethanol.
Flow/Transitions:
Does each paragraph expand upon the thesis? Do the paragraphs flow? Which paragraphs have
bumpy transitions?
Yes, the paragraphs expanded on the thesis. The paper seemed to flow well with the exception of the conclusion which didn’t seem to quite fit.
I’d actually been wondering about the energy it takes to produce ethanol and found the paper enlightening.
Post a Comment