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Published Letters: 1
Critics of corn ethanol seem to originate mostly from people not from the corn belt. Those of us involved with corn and corn research probably have a bias but also sense some misunderstanding among the writers. 1. Most midwestern land is already cultivated for something: corn, soybeans, wheat or hay crops. Most farmers rotate the crops with some adjustment for expected demand. Ethanol is not causing a big shift in land use in the midwest. 2. Most corn in the midwest is not used directly for human food. I suppose 120KG of corn could be used to feed a person for a year but it would be a terrible diet and if that was the objective it would be better to use the land for vegetables. 3. Corn has a wide range of genetics that can be manipulated to suit its ultimate use. Corn ethanol efficiency will improve with research effort in corn genetics and ethanol production technology. Corn remains one of the most efficient plant species in converting sunlight energy into the energy of carbohydrates. It will be interesting to read the details of the World Bank study but on the surface it seems suspect if it is based mostly on use of corn ethanol.
