Using Food for Fuel

[Tabby]

Isn't ethanol made from corn? And aren't there fewer farmers now than ever before? So, if there is not as much corn, and more and more of it is being used to make fuel, won't that cause food shortages? It's already making the price of corn go up, and it hardly seems worth it to take away a food source in the interest of saving coal.

Does the energy come from the corn itself, or can the waste (cobs, silks, husks, stalks) be turned into fuel? That would seem ideal, as the kernels could be used for food while the waste could be used for fuel.

 

[Chaoticdriver]

Yeah, when it comes to producing bio fuels, the food shortages are the main issues. I wonder if it's possible to produce ethanol from by products of food industry like what you said.

 

[911porsche]

From what I know about biofuels, they are mostly made from the fermentation of alcohol in sugar and starch crops, but as the technology gets further developed and improved, other types of bimass, such as cellulose from trees and grasses, may be used as well for the raw material. I think it's only a matter of time before it becomes economically viable.

 

[Jess28]

This is pretty interesting to me. I didn't know that corn was made into fuel. Heck you can grow your own corn to make fuel. I don't see any problem with farmers growing corn to make fuel, hey they might actually get paid more for their crop this way.