Should We Burn Our Food for Fuel?

Not only does this kill the American Agriculture, but this also starves people. I’m sure everyone of you know the struggle people go through and the struggle of finding food. Instead of land being used for crops to grow food for these people, it is being used to produce ethanol. I believe we should use this cropland for crops because it can help starving and hungry people to be able to receive food so they can have enough to eat.

Switching from the expensive oil to alternative fuels has moved from a dream to reality. Today, there are dozens of alternatives to oil that are currently available us to be used. One alternative to oil that is being used more today is ethanol. Derived from plant materials, ethanol can be a cheaper, cleaner alternative to the gasoline that our vehicles run off. When going to gas pumps, one will notice that much of the gasoline is up to 10 percent of ethanol. According to our text, most ethanol in the U.S. is made from corn, yet ethanol can be made from any biomes-- including garbage. (Turk & Bensel, 2011)

That other 30 percent is people such as farmers who are concerned about how much of the corn is being used to produce the fuels for the sport and other cars on the road, but eventually the world will only be using biofuels. They should not be worried about it because when being made the farmers can save the the corn stocks to be used in the making of the ethanol and other

Mankind has relied on non-renewable resources for thousands of years, and only recently has it started to take its toll on the environment. Chemists have been experimenting with different types of fuels and adding to gasoline to make it more efficient. This is when ethanol made its debut into the fuel industry, as an additive to gasoline. Ethanol is put into gas as a combatant against water, which can find its way into fuel tanks of vehicles. It reduces the effect that this water has on the health of the vehicle, and as a result increases gas mileage, and also increases the amount of complete combustion. Ethanol consumption has severe drawbacks pertaining to its effect on the environment. Production of ethanol increases the formation of

I believe this switch is vital to our future. With gasoline prices volatile and the Obama administration committed to easing the United States ' addiction to oil, many Americans seem to be taking more interest in pursuing alternative fuels. These alternative fuels include those derived from farm crops and other renewable organic sources. Among the most widely available are biodiesel and vegetable oil, both of which can be used to power a diesel engine.

In the words of Lester Brown, “We are witnessing the beginning of one of the great tragedies of history.” Numerous people just like Brown believe the urge the United States has to reduce foreign oil will soon cause a major shortage of food. In 2011, the United States used 45% of that year’s corn crop to produce ethanol. With such a high percentage of corn used for ethanol, it causes a shortage of corn for food. The Untied States is not as efficient at making ethanol compared to feeding people. A bushel of corn can produce 2 .77 gallons of ethanol. With the same amount of corn, America can feed 1.4 persons for a day.

In the words of John McCain, “corn-based ethanol has been a case study in the law of unintended consequences” (Stossel 00:00:43-00:00:48). This news would astonish most because the general public has been told that ethanol is beneficial for the United States, due to it being a renewable resource, however, that is not true. When one thinks of the qualities of a renewable resource, they think of it being beneficial to the environment, having a positive energy balance, not requiring subsidies, mandates, and tariffs to function, and should not raise the price of its main input. Most renewable resources meet these goals, corn ethanol, however, does not meet any of these goals. It is safe to call ethanol a false economy because it does not have any

Ethanol is the fuel of the future. Really? How so? Ethanol will solve the energy crisis. That sounds a little far fetched. Ethanol stimulates time travel. Alright, that’s just a flat-out lie. It seems that these days everybody and their brother thinks that ethanol is the magic key to the future of powering automobiles and solving the problem of dependence on foreign oil. Well, that is not the case. Ethanol is not the energy source of the future; in fact ethanol only creates more energy problems.

The featured film Fuel shows various points on fuel ruining the environment, from American children not being able to play in water to huge industries causing “cancer alley” such as the one on Louisiana. The Environmental Protection Agency has put a few standards into play to regulate health hazarda and complete destruction of the environment. Natural events that have been happening since the birth of Earth have created multiple types of ways humans have taken advantage to create fuel for the world. An interesting point brought up while watching this film was the fact that biofuels caught on as fast as it did to actually start to make a difference for the world. When word started to get out on how ecofriendly and cheap it really is,

The Renewable Fuels Association (RFA), the ethanol business' entry add up to, guarantees that ethanol time manufactures the cost of corn by developing sales. The RFA claims that ethanol time has positive cash related impact for US ranchers, yet it doesn't illustrate the impact for different masses where field corn is a touch of the staple

Growing corn for ethanol could be beneficial for the economy by providing more jobs as needed on the farms. The farmers would have to purchase more farm equipment which would boost our economy even more. Plus the fact that the US could cut out the middle man or the need to import ethanol from other countries; thus, keeping money inside our country and not giving it all away to other countries. This all looks good on paper for the economy but when it comes to the environmental side of things scientist seem to think there is more of a downside to this. I can see where the ethanol use as fuel from corn would be of great importance to the environment as it would cut out the need for the bad emissions released by straight gasoline.

For over forty years now, scientists and researchers have been tirelessly searching for an alternative to fossil fuels. Biofuels have become an interesting contender in the search for the replacement of the non-renewable energy source. Biofuels have been used throughout history for over thousands of years. There is a large debate over biofuels and its true impact on the environment. Those involved in the discussion debating whether biofuels have any real overwhelming benefits compared to fossil fuels could argue for its usage. According to recent research performed by the University of Michigan, biofuels may not be the best alternative for fossil fuels. Regardless of its impact on the environment, biofuels are becoming more popular particularly when the price of oil rises.

Increased energy demands, the need for dependence on oil imports, and rising oil prices have created a new found interest in renewable, biomass fuels. The U.S. Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 (EISA) added onto the Renewable Fuel Standard that required that all U.S. transportation fuels contain at least 36 billion gallons of renewable fuels by 2022. Algae biofuels have the potential to make a significant contribution to achieving these goals and having our nation become an energy independent country. The U.S. federal government has invested over $800 million in biofuels research as part of the American Recovery and Renewal Act. These funds have been given to the Department of Energy - Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy’s Biomass Program to invest in research, development, and finding ways to create an algae-to-biomass a commercialized farm and product. A few private companies are also making substantial investments in the algae to biomass area. With all the interest in algae as biomass, it is possible that algae could become the best sustainable oil option for the United States.

This essay will first discuss the advantages of using corn ethanol as the main source of fuel in the future, such as the renewable features of corn itself, and the benefits of using corn ethanol as an additive of gasoline instead of using gasoline alone. However, everything has its strengths and weaknesses. Therefore, the second part of the essay will discuss some of the weaknesses in applying the fuel into practical usage. For example, corn ethanol currently encounters technical limitations serving itself as a standalone fuel, meaning that corn ethanol can only function by combining itself with a certain amount of gasoline, while gasoline is a kind of fossil fuel. Lastly, this essay will conduct a comparison with other renewable resources in the world, including solar power, other biofuels, and hydrogen fuel.

What environmental benefits do we receive form an influx in ethanol as an alternative fuel? First let’s look