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Corn ethanol is a farm subsidy. It gets greenwashed as something positive because plant=natural=good.

by dexwiz 1y ago

QuadmasterXLII 1y ago
It’s not great for the environment, but it keeps a food surplus available in crisis instantly by just turning off the ethanol production facilities
- chairmansteve 1y ago
  True. But it might be cheaper to store the corn for a year and then dispose of it, replace it with fresh corn.
  - dragontamer 1y ago
    If you are disposing of the corn anyway, why not turn it into Ethanol and then burn it as car fuel? The only real issue with Ethanol IMO is that corn Ethanol is preventing progress in advanced synthesis made out of, ex: switchgrass cellulose. There are better sources of ethanol if we invest into them.
    - chairmansteve 1y ago
      "If you are disposing of the corn anyway, why not turn it into Ethanol and then burn it as car fuel?" It costs more money and has a higher carbon footprint than simply using gasoline.
      - dragontamer 1y ago
        More money yes. The carbon footprint thing doesn't past review of the overall literature. There's one outspoken guy who has to bend over backwards and publishes media articles rather than keeping things academic who tries to make the public believe what you say, but I'm not convinced he's arguing in any serious manner.
  - motorest 1y ago
    > But it might be cheaper to store the corn for a year and then dispose of it, replace it with fresh corn. I don't think any food crisis scenario in the US involves a road bump that spans a single year and doesn't disrupt existing crops.
- dexwiz 1y ago
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  - murderfs 1y ago
    Surely you can make cornstarch from it, and that problem only lasts a year.
  - ofalkaed 1y ago
    They are used for all sorts of things we eat, corn nuts, hominy, grits, corn meal/flour and all the things those are used in. Personally, I find it far more palatable than sweet corn and it is far more useful/versitile/nutritious than sweet corn; it is a traditional cereal grain and can be used for all those things we use wheat and rye for.

Corn ethanol is a farm subsidy. It gets greenwashed as something positive because plant=natural=good.

by dexwiz 1y ago

Corn ethanol is a farm subsidy. It gets greenwashed as something positive because plant=natural=good.

It’s not great for the environment, but it keeps a food surplus available in crisis instantly by just turning off the ethanol production facilities

chairmansteve 1y ago
True. But it might be cheaper to store the corn for a year and then dispose of it, replace it with fresh corn.
- dragontamer 1y ago
  If you are disposing of the corn anyway, why not turn it into Ethanol and then burn it as car fuel? The only real issue with Ethanol IMO is that corn Ethanol is preventing progress in advanced synthesis made out of, ex: switchgrass cellulose. There are better sources of ethanol if we invest into them.
  - chairmansteve 1y ago
    "If you are disposing of the corn anyway, why not turn it into Ethanol and then burn it as car fuel?" It costs more money and has a higher carbon footprint than simply using gasoline.
    - dragontamer 1y ago
      More money yes. The carbon footprint thing doesn't past review of the overall literature. There's one outspoken guy who has to bend over backwards and publishes media articles rather than keeping things academic who tries to make the public believe what you say, but I'm not convinced he's arguing in any serious manner.
- motorest 1y ago
  > But it might be cheaper to store the corn for a year and then dispose of it, replace it with fresh corn. I don't think any food crisis scenario in the US involves a road bump that spans a single year and doesn't disrupt existing crops.
dexwiz 1y ago
-
- murderfs 1y ago
  Surely you can make cornstarch from it, and that problem only lasts a year.
- ofalkaed 1y ago
  They are used for all sorts of things we eat, corn nuts, hominy, grits, corn meal/flour and all the things those are used in. Personally, I find it far more palatable than sweet corn and it is far more useful/versitile/nutritious than sweet corn; it is a traditional cereal grain and can be used for all those things we use wheat and rye for.