ecoresearchers

A recent article on the University of Minnesota Alumni Association’s website entitled Five Reasons Corn Ethanol Won’t Save the Planet makes some sobering claims about corn-derived ethanol. I’m not going to retype the article but will let you read it for yourself (that’s what links are for) but basically the article goes on for several paragraphs about the environmental damage caused by using corn to make ethanol and makes the claim that soy-based biodiesel beats out ethanol by a wide margin in overall environmental impact. The claims are quoted from a December 2006 Science article.

If soy-based diesel is so much better than corn-based ethanol as a vehicle fuel, why is there so much more excitement in America about ethanol than about biodiesel? One possible reason could be that Americans aren’t exposed to many diesel passenger vehicles in the first place. Fewer than 5% of new cars sold in the US run on diesel whereas about 50% of cars sold in Europe use diesel; that discrepancy alone could help account for the lack of biodiesel awareness in the US market. US manufacturers more or less abandoned diesel engines in the 1980s and left it to the Europeans to refine (no pun intended) the technology. Beginning in 2008 Mercedes, Volkswagen, and Audi will offer diesel vehicles for the US market that meet emissions standards in all 50 states. Perhaps this marketing push will increase the awareness of pure biodiesel and biodiesel blends as alternatives to gasoline.

Related links:

National Biodiesel Board

American Coalition for Ethanol