The Pros And Cons Of The Renewable Fuel Standard

(Sub-Point # 1) One major influence on the great increase in the U.S.’s corn production is its great economic benefit for our local and national economies through tax revenue and employment. Corn is a subsidized crop in the U.S., meaning that American farmers are paid a guaranteed price by the government, in addition to the profit of their yield, just for growing corn (“U.S and Employment,” 2015). This creates a safety net for American farmers to start farming corn leading to the emersion of almost 2 million individual or family owned corn farms (“U.S and Employment,” 2015). Not only does

Although a 2002 agriculture law superseded many parts of FAIRA, acreage was still increased because of the growing demand for corn in animal feed, the need for corn in ethanol manufacturing, and the increased possibility to make food with corn byproducts. These seem to be good and fair reasons to focus our efforts on increasing output, however, the same issue arises: the more corn that is made, the less stable a livelihood farming becomes, regardless of the subsidies that the federal government provides.

Pollan argues that “... taxpayers will pay farmers $4 billion a year to grow ever more corn, this despite the fact that we struggle to get rid of the surplus the plant already produces” (para. 4). This explains that many of the farmers are getting paid more to just grow corn and to over grow them. Pollan vocalizes that “America's corn crop might look like a sustainable, solar-powered system for producing food, but it is actually a huge, inefficient, polluting machine that guzzles fossil fuel..”(Para 12). The corn needs a lot of gas to keep the production going which cause a lot of pollution in the world and, also globe warning. Consumer don't know what type of food or beverages have corn in them most of them don’t even know where their meat or what the animals are being feed because the government is hiding that away from them. Overall, this causes a lot of problems to the next generation and the government still only wants to make money out of the over growing of

The Alternative energy industry in the United States has been at a steady rate of growth for the past decade, however there is still controversy over the use of renewable energies, their impact on the economy, and their impact on the environment. As controversial as the topic is, the argument boils down to a moral need to support environmental regulations, and an economical need to sustain domestic growth in the Energy industry of the United States. Mainly, the question is can alternative energy effective replace fossil fuels? There are of course arguments for both sides of this question.

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

Evidence suggests that renewable fuel use mandates put in place after the Energy Policy Act of 2005 coupled with strong emerging market demand for both energy and feedstock are at least partly responsible (Enders and Holt 2012). Another set of relevant policy interventions is federal crop insurance program. Since 1980 use of crop insurance has grown rapidly, accompanied by increasingly generous subsidies that amounted to about $7 billion per year over 2005-2009 (Glauber 2013). Premium subsidy increases with yield riskiness. In light of poorer soils and aridity, production risk is greater at the edge of the Corn Belt when compared with the center of the region (Shields

This article is completely relevant to our current geography, living in Midwest means we are surrounded by flat land, perfect for farming. Many people that live in Illinois often make fun of the fact that farmland is all we have around us; no mountains, no volcanos, just corn. This article made me realize how truly important the conservation of the Midwest is for the production of the abundance of food we consume as Americans. Almost every food we consume can be traced back to the production of a single plant, corn. Many years ago farmers were producing an abundant amount causing the price of corn to plummet. This soon changed after farmers began processing. If human interaction causes corn to be scarce then it will have an unraveling effect

Are you tired of paying those high fuel prices at the pump every time you go to fill up your vehicle? The ever-rising price for a barrel of foreign oil has most American citizens really watching where they drive. A majority of the people is not aware that there is an alternative to the problem. It is startling to think that there is a fuel source here on our own soil that most people pass everyday and do not even think about it.

This would create and elastic effect on the corn market because the huge demand for corn oil will remain the same but with the discovery corn for energy it has made it a hot commodity and very profitable amongst farmers therefore corn oil would take a back seat for now until other resources can be used to produce energy. These farmers are going to slow down their productions of corn for corn oil and increase the production of corn for energy because it is the more profitable thing to do and its makes perfect business sense. Now the demand for the corn oil remains the same, but the productions for it has slowed greatly if not stopped, this means that farmers and corn producers will need to raise the price of corn for corn products so they will be able to stay on the market longer and have a longer shelf life until another year or harvest comes around.

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.

First, the production of corn ethanol negatively impacts the U.S. food supply. That is, within the last few years, there has been a decline in corn-based food. As Kripke notes, “In 2008, the USDA estimate that 3.1 million bushels of U.S. corn will be used to produce biofuels. That’s an increase of nearly 50 percent over 2.1 million bushels last year.”

Policies on global food production threatened the food security of many countries. First, economically vulnerable countries are subject to the unexpected changes of the international marketplace, food prices, and heavily subsidized produce from the global North that undermine the ability of the former to compete. Second, certain crops, like sugarcane, potato, and corn, are planted to produce biofuels, primarily ethanol, instead of food for poor populations. Wealthy nations that can afford to buy crops for biofuels inflate market prices for food, and then the food still goes to the country willing to pay. Third, nations that are based primarily on exporting products

In the eleven years since the Renewable Fuel Standard was signed in to law, US Corn production has shifted from feeding faces to fuel tanks, stirring a controversy over corns purpose. In 2007, the food or fuel controversy landed on the floor of the United Nations when Jean Ziegler, former UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food, stated that diverting cropland from food to fuel is a crime against humanity (Ferrett). The Renewable Fuel Standard, signed in to law in 2005, is a mandate that requires renewable fuels, such as corn based ethanol, be blended into transportation fuel (“Renewable…”). Ethanol is grain alcohol that can be fermented from many sources, most commonly corn and sugar cane, that is then blended with gasoline (“Ethanol…”). Today, roughly forty percent corn grown in the US is used to produce ethanol, accounting for the crops single largest use. Expansion of ethanol production in the United States has been intended to lower emissions, and increase energy independence; however, this well intentioned program could be having a detrimental effect on developing nations by increasing the cost of and decreasing the supply of corn.

Biofuel is a natural alternative fuel created from carbon fixation. Carbon fixation happens in both living and dead material and is known as biomass conversion. In other words, Biofuel uses naturally grown plant matter or plant-derived materials, (biomass) to convert energy and must contain over 80% renewable matter. The biomass can then be converted in three different ways: thermal, chemical, and biochemical. The conversion of biomass creates fuel in solid, liquid, and gas form. The product of this process creates biofuel. Biofuels have increased in popularity as the rise of oil prices and with the push for alternative energy.