In order to effectively communicate the information regarding ethanol as a fuel or even more broadly, biofuels, there are some basic considerations that are necessary. When researching this topic, always keep in mind that the audience will always react to information in a “so what? How does this affect my life” way; the great thing about covering a biofuel is that this question is self-evident. Everyone wants better, cheaper ways to power their cars.
One important facet of the ethanol fuel industry is to find out who supports and who criticizes the use of the fuel. A major consequence of doing this is also finding out what the advantages and disadvantages are of the fuel (such as those described in earlier blogs), and in which direction the movement of production is heading. For example, Iowa has become America’s leading state in the production of corn-based ethanol, and is benefiting from subsidies encouraged by Barack Obama (“$250,000 limit on subsidy payments to farmers” source) as well as federal government subsidy of $3 billion per year for the whole ethanol industry. On the flip side however, there is much criticism that a corn-based ethanol industry would consequently take away potential food from developing countries. Friends of the Earth say that by growing corn for the use of fuel decreases the physical amount of food available to be used as food-this will in effect starve already starving countries. The International Water Management Institute (IWMI) says that the domestic production of corn will strain water supplies in countries that already have water-shortage problems i.e. India and China.
The IWMI organization is comprised of 100 scientists from 16 countries who research issues relating to water use around the world. They speculated that 3,500 liters of irrigation water alone will be needed to produce 1 liter of ethanol from sugar cane in India. The Friends of the Earth group points to the riots in Mexico regarding corn flour imports from the U.S.; they say that as more farm land was used for biofuel production, less corn was exported to Mexico.
Another significant aspect to take into account is how local, national and international economies will be affected by the surge of a new industry. The advent of the industry will bring more jobs to local rural communities as demand grows; a plant that produces about 40 million gallons of ethanol will have an output of $140 million to the local economy.
In the short-term, this boom of corn-based ethanol is projected to be one of the causes of higher food/agricultural product prices in the nation. Iowa is a model of how corn-ethanol affects the state-level economy. Iowa produces about 33% (one third) of the nation’s ethanol, there have been more jobs created by the arrival of rural ethanol plants, and many hope for energy independence. However, there is are several very real daunting questions: what will happen to these now booming communities when the corn-ethanol fad dies down, will the local infrastructure be able to absorb this new industry, and what will happen to them if and when “second-generation” biofuels (i.e. cellulosic ethanol) become prominent? Cellulosic ethanol is a far better alternative to corn-ethanol, which means it could easily replace the corn industry that is currently being established throughout the Midwest.
Other countries, such as Brazil, are in favor of the ethanol industry because they believe it will help them achieve economic independence from oil-bearing countries. The President of Brazil, President Luiz Ignacio Lula da Silva, is currently trying to encourage African countries to adopt this new technology as a way of economic independence; they can economically develop in the same manner and at the same time help the global environment.
