Corn & The Energy Bill
By: Import User
Updated: December 20, 2007
The energy bill signed today by President Bush calls for big changes, big changes that will affect our lives... From our cars to household appliances.
It also calls for the production of more bio-fuels like ethanol.
The energy bill signed by President Bush calls for more ethanol.
That could be good news for this area, rich in corn crops.
Indiana Farm Bureau agent Tony Wolfe is for the plan.
He says plants have become more efficient in producing ethanol, and that the technology to do so is getting better.
The US currently produces 7 billion gallons of ethanol, all from corn, but US lawmakers want 36 billion by 2022, thats 13 billion more from corn. Can it be done? Farmers like Wolf say yes
Wolfe: "The yield curve on corn is climbing, technology out there to produce more corn from drought like soils, hybrids now that produce on 3 inch of water than five years ago.
He says another pro of using ethanol, is that it doesnt cost as much to transport and protect as petroleum does.
There are some obstacles. There arent too many gas stations pumping out E-85, an ethanol mixed fuel, and producing the bio-fuel isnt always cheap.
But says Wolfe, the results outweigh those costs, and that now is time to look for alternative fuels, and this is the place to start.
