Choosing plants with no food value sidesteps one of the biggest criticisms of another synthetic fuel, corn ethanol, because critics say that corn should be used as food, not fuel.
Two well-known cynics, David Pimentel of Cornell and Tad Patzek of UC, Berkeley, calculate that producing a gallon of corn ethanol consumes 29% more fossil fuel energy than the ethanol displaces.
In pursuit of energy independence, the United States is diverting about a quarter of the national corn crop to produce ethanol fuel.
It makes sense: so much land, irrigation, and fuel for so little corn ethanol.
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But regular corn-based ethanol is unlikely to be the fuel choice of American motorists anytime soon--not least because only so much farmland can be devoted to growing corn for ethanol without denting food production.
So, especially in America, is the growing use of ethanol, an alternative fuel made of corn.
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Thus far the star of this new science has been ethanol, a car fuel made from corn, but around the world chemical, grain and biotech companies are working to produce auto paint, cosmetics, even apparel fiber from renewable resources.
America's ethanol subsidy, which has led to a huge rise in production, rocketing maize prices and consequent rioting in Mexico, is the sharpest example of why government should not pick winners: once the fertiliser and fuel used in corn production are taken into account, ethanol is probably not much greener than petrol.
Watkins says the rest of his fortune lies in ethanol, a fuel additive usually made from corn.
Some have even calculated a ratio less than one, meaning it takes more energy to produce ethanol from corn than the energy content of the fuel.
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But much of the cynicism is centered on corn-based ethanol that some consider not just an inefficient fuel source but also one that also creates food shortages, driving up the cost of feed for livestock producers.
The Renewable Fuel Standard currently requires transportation fuel to contain certain amounts of renewables such as corn grain ethanol regardless of how high it pushes corn prices or how much weather conditions or tariffs on imported ethanol have reduced supplies.
For example, how many gallons of water and fossil fuel does it take to produce and transport one gallon of corn-based ethanol?
Subsidised corn-based ethanol is therefore a nifty way of meeting America's mandatory fuel-economy requirements without having to invest billions in new technology.
The Federal Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) continues to force refiners to sell larger amounts of corn ethanol and other biofuels each year, regardless of weather, supply demand, or cost influences.
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U.S. renewable fuel standards (RFS) require the blending of 13.2 billion gallons of corn ethanol with gasoline this year.
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To bring soybeans and other crops, including corn and such, for ethanol are great options for national security, but we also need fuel economy.
Ethanol subsidies began decades ago as a small test to see if corn could produce a fuel that would be an appropriate substitute for gasoline.
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Unlike the U.S., ethanol is made from sugar cane rather than corn, and the growing use of sugar as a fuel in Brazil and other countries in recent years helped drive the price of the commodity.
This type of ethanol refers to fuel made from waste, wood, plants and other products, as opposed to the now widely produced corn ethanol.
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