Most cows, pigs, and chickens are fed with coproducts produced by the ethanol industry. Distiller’s grains account for the majority of the composition of pelletized and granular animal feeds, and a type of syrup (not hi-fructose corn syrup) which is one of the most common hog feeds out there.
What is less commonly known about the ethanol industry is that it produces enough animal feed in the form of distiller’s grains to feed all the cattle in all the feed lots in the entire country.
Each 56 pound bushel of #2 corn produces about 2.8 gallons of ethanol, 17 pounds of distiller’s grains, and 17 pounds of carbon dioxide. The majority of the syrup produced is usually put back through onto the distiller’s grains to increase the protein content to > 25% on a w/w basis, and fat to > 8%.
The average dry grind ethanol plant produces about 60MM gallons of ethanol per year, consuming abou 21MM bushels of corn (1.17 billion pounds), and producing 357 million pounds of animal feed per year, per plant. Most wet mills are sized at > 110MM gallons per year and would 668 million pounds of feed a year, not to mention other coproducts such as corn oil, corn syrup,
The ethanol industry could disappear tomorrow and improve the gas supply, but it would also eradicate tens of billions of pounds of prepared animal feed from the supply like which would have to be produced some other way.
The ethanol industry could disappear tomorrow and improve the gas supply, but it would also eradicate tens of billions of pounds of prepared animal feed from the supply like which would have to be produced some other way.””
Those by-products of the Ethanol production have found a market—
But—
feeds for animals were produced in many ways before anyone even came up with the idea of Ethanol.
I have no objections to having an ethanol industry, if it is useful. But I strongly object to:
a) making it mandatory.
b) subsidizing it with taxpayer money.
c) forcing me to wreck my small engines when I use it.
Alcohol in gasoline is a lousy idea. Maybe they could make vodka out of it or something—but not at my expense, please.