MISCONCEPTION 1:

CORN ETHANOL IS MORE ENERGY EFFICIENT THAN GASOLINE

• Corn crops are treated with larger quantities of toxic pesticides and fertilizers than any other U.S. food crop.

• The process of converting corn to ethanol consumes a significant amount of energy and electricity. The plants used in this conversion process are predominantly coal-powered, which results in a large amount of harmful carbon emissions.

• When accounting for the energy needed to cultivate corn and then ferment the starches into an alcoholic fuel, corn ethanol requires almost a gallon of fossil fuel for every gallon of ethanol.

MISCONCEPTION 2:

CORN ETHANOL IS A CLEAN SOLUTION TO CLIMATE CHANGE

• When comparing CO2 emissions, corn ethanol results in only a 12 percent reduction in life-cycle emissions over gasoline, just 11 percent with E-852 (a mixture made up of 85 percent ethanol and 15 percent gasoline) and almost no reduction if you factor in the carbon emitted from coal-powered plants during ethanol production.

• The large amount of chemicals required to cultivate corn results in a great deal of nitrate run-off , which pollutes water sources and can cause birth defects and other health problems.

MISCONCEPTION 3:

CORN ETHANOL CAN HELP THE U.S. FIGHT ITS DEPENDENCY ON FOREIGN OIL

• Currently, ethanol production is equal to only about 1.5 percent of U.S. oil imports. According to the United States Department of Agriculture, energy provided from U.S. ethanol will stagnate at around 3.7 percent of oil imports by 2017

• Replacing the U.S.'s yearly use of 200 billion gallons of fuel with corn ethanol would require 675 million acres. That would require three-quarters of our current farmland to be devoted solely to the cultivation of corn for ethanol.3

• In all, reducing our oil dependency through corn ethanol isn't even remotely feasible because of the vast amounts of farmland and resources it would require.

MISCONCEPTION 4:

CORN ETHANOL SUPPORTS SMALL FARMERS BY INCREASING DEMAND FOR CORN

• In 2000, about 80 percent of ethanol plants were farmer owned. As of 2006, only 20 percent of all current and future ethanol plants are farmer owned, with large-scale agribusinesses accounting for the majority.

• Therefore, the increasing U.S. corn prices will continue to benefit large agribusinesses and actually hurt small farmers who depend on corn for animal feed. For example, dairy farmers have already experienced a 25 percent rise in feed costs.

• Internationally, the U.S. accounts for 70 percent of the world's corn exports, and rising prices are on their way to creating a global food crisis among countries that import U.S. corn for food.

• In Mexico, the price of corn tortillas, a food staple, has increased to three to four times their 2006 price. As a result of trade policies including the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), the Mexican government has not been able to stabilize the price with subsidies. With Mexico's poorest receiving 40 percent of their nutrition from corn tortillas, children and families alike are suffering from rising corn prices due to an increase in ethanol production.

• Farmers and consumers in Guatemala have already been hit by an increase in corn prices of 30 percent in the last year.

• With increasing corn prices, U.S. consumers may see rising costs not only in corn, but in all products which depend on corn as feed or include high-fructose corn syrup.

MISCONCEPTION 5:

CORN ETHANOL IS THE BEST CHOICE WE CURRENTLY HAVE

There are several other alternative energy choices that are vastly more beneficial and efficient than corn ethanol:

• Cellulosic ethanol is a better ethanol choice as it is primarily produced from industrial waste (like paper pulp) and plant waste (like corn stalks). It takes far less energy to produce than corn ethanol and results in an 87 percent carbon emissions reduction over gasoline.
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• Biodiesel made from any organic oil is biodegradable, non-toxic and can be converted into fuel to reduce vehicle emissions by 52 percent compared to gasoline.

• Gas-electric hybrids are around 20-35 percent more efficient than gasoline cars and emit about 30 percent less CO2 , achieving up to 60 miles per gallon.

• Electric and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) that are plugged into green energy sources are pollutant and emission-free. Even when powered by dirty electricity sources, they emit less greenhouse gas than a traditional car. These vehicles have rechargeable batteries and have achieved more than 100 miles per gallon. The gasoline engine in the hybrid kicks in only once the battery is drained and therefore reduces greenhouse gas emissions by 30-42 percent.12 PHEVs are also more cost efficient, running on around 75 cents per gallon.13 And it is possible now: the U.S. electrical grid has the capacity to power the daily commutes of 73 percent of our light-duty passenger vehicles, and by charging them at night, we could switch millions more trucks, vans, and SUVs to PHEVs tomorrow without building a single power plant.14 Plug-in hybrids are our best transportation option, and we want to see them on the road tomorrow!

Learn more about corn ethanol in the Co-op America Quarterly:
www.coopamerica.org/go/ethanol.