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["Jerry W. Shepperd" <shepperd AT austincc.edu>]

Brazil produces 35 percent of all ethanol and the U.S. produces 37 
percent, and in both cases, production and consumption occur 
domestically.  However, as several people on this list have noted, 
ethanol, as it is currently produced, is not likely to come close to 
solving the U.S.'s need, not to mention the world's need, for 
energy.   There are at least three reasons.   First, Brazil's use of 
sugarcane and the U.S.'s use of corn use only the food portion of the 
plant.  The stalks, cobs, and leaves, which are approximately 90 
percent of the plant, are not used in the production of 
ethanol.  Some Brazilian farmers burn the stalk and leaves to power 
electric generators, but in the U.S., the stalk and leaves of the 
corn crop are left in the field.  Second, at the moment, there is no 
viable or economical way to get the corn stalk and leaves to a 
processing plant.  If only the food portion of corn is used, food 
costs will likelyrise, because cropland will be diverted from 
producing other crops to producing corn.  This is already happening 
in Mexico, where corn for ethanol is being sold to the U.S., and the 
price of tortillas has risen significantly.  In addition, even if all 
available cropland were used to produce corn, the food portion of 
corn would not be enough to make a significant impact on the amount 
of petroleum used.

Third, even if the infrastructure were present, the cost of breaking 
down the cellulose of the stalk into ethanol at the moment is about 
$2.25 per gallon, although it has dropped significantly over the past 
ten years.

This past weekend, at a June 3-5 conference in Brazil, Brazilian 
researchers announced that they have refined the process and reduced 
the cost of processing cellulose to approximately 50 cents per 
gallon, although it has not confirmed independently.   If the claim 
is true, then not only is it economically feasible to process the 
entire corn stalk, other biomass crops, such as hemp or switchgrass 
can also be processed.

At the moment, however, as James, Gene, Don, and several others have 
said, while multiple sources of alternative energy are necessary, 
conservation is still the single best approach.


Forget injuries, never forget kindnesses.
                        -- Confucius

He is a man of sense who does not grieve for what he has not, but 
rejoices in what he has.
                        -- Epictetus

What matters is not what you learn but what you teach.
                -- Michael Josephson

Live simply. Love generously. Care deeply. Speak kindly.
Leave the rest to God...