Posted on 09/03/2009 4:09:35 PM PDT by h20skier66
At a time when the trade is questioning USDA’s 2009/10 prospective demand for US corn, especially in the feed use column, it is refreshing to note the continued upward demand for corn for ethanol. According to the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007, the United States is expected to manufacture 12 billion gallons of ethanol for calendar year 2010, or 14.3% more than a year earlier requirement of 10.5 billion gallons in calendar year 2009.
As you are able to view the trend increase for corn use for ethanol continues to be impressive vs feed use and equally important the US export campaign. USDA is calculating corn used for ethanol for the 2009/10 marketing year at 4.2 billion bushels vs Allendale Inc’s estimated use of 4.17 billion bushels, well above 2008/09’s corn use for ethanol of 3.65 billion bushels. This increased potential use for corn based ethanol continues to create greater distance from the corn used for exports since 2006 when demand for both fuel and exports were very near parity.
Two points to consider as to relevance of corn use for ethanol is number one, how the market share has grown from 6.3% of annual production in the year 2000 to a projected 2009/10 level of 41.7%. Secondly the projected use of corn for ethanol is expected to peak by the year 2015 by consuming 5.3 billion bushels, and may potentially draw closer to corn for feed use.
(Excerpt) Read more at commoditynewscenter.com ...
ethanol bad, butanol good
Anybody got an estimate on the amount of water it takes to produce 12 billion gallons of ethanol?
Yeah, in our rush to replace the consumption of oil (which comes out of the ground) with something else, we are most assuredly laying the groundwork for mass starvation somewhere in the world. US crop production has typically *FAR* outstripped our own needs, and we have been able to backstop populations around the world when there were droughts or crop failures.
Now, we’re grinding it up into mash, fermenting it, and putting it into our fuel tanks. There is no net energy gained, but we sure feel good about not using as much oil in our cars.
When the inevitable starvation happens somewhere in the world, because there is no more safety net to be had from US corn crops, may God have mercy on our souls.
Most put the figure at 3-4 gallons of water per gallon of ethanol produced. Some of the water doesn’t get consumed, just dirtied up. Some is lost by watering the corn crop.
Ethanol break even when gasoline is about $5 a gallon. Some financial papers said this. Notice how many ethanol producers are now going broke.
Ethanol produces twice the CO2 as regular gasoline. So said CARB, before the gubernator forced them to take the data down.
ethanol is wasteful, and too expensive, which is why it was dropped from the fuel list for cars a hundred years ago.
Thanks
Rhetorical: Why are we doing this again? Wasn’t this a program from the Bush administration that caused a jump in food prices?
When will we get some adults back into leadership positions in Washington?
I avoid ethanol tainted gasoline. We have a chain of Kwik Trip stores that sell their premium gas without ethanol. I use it exclusively. You get better mileage, from 10 to 15 percent better than the ethanol blend. My trucks love premium 100 percent gasoline.
Using food to replace plentiful oil, which we choose not to drill out of ANWR because we might disturb the mosquitoes, on a planet where half the people are hungry at least some of the time, is simply immoral.
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