Why just corn for E-85?

Question

Why is it that we are only looking at corn as a source for E-85? What about the other sources, bad beer, sugar cane, or any grain that has been known to make alcohol?

Answer 1

Because the corn growers have a boatload of money to throw at politicians to make sure the push is towards corn. Most farmland is not suited for sugar cane and beet growers don't hold enough sway in Congress.

Answer 2

As Americans, we have forgotten about diversity in our crops. We will grow what there is a market for and what will bring in the most money. What we don't grow, we import because it is cheaper elsewhere.

The US has a diverse enough climate to grow just about every crop we would need with the exception of tropical fruits. The problem is that some crops are just too labor intensive to be profitable. If you can grow potatoes in Idaho, you can also grow beets, carrots, parsnips, any root vegetable, but the process for harvesting is a little different so it would involve more labor and expense.

Sugar cane can easily be grown in the deep South in Lousiana, Mississippi and Alabama. The problem is labor. Sugar cane takes a lot more labor to harvest, transport, and process than cotton or soybeans. And the soil has been so overworked because of the nutrient needs of cotton, that you cannot hardly grow anything else now.

Most of the rice grown in the US is shipped overseas for humanitarian and political reasons.

It isn't that we can't grow other crops, we just don't.

Answer 3

Corn and Soybeans are the crops normally grown by the US farmers. In Indonesia, the world's most common ethanol crop, cane, is grown in abundance. You can make ethanol out of lots of different things, with varying production costs and varying results, but here's the kicker:
The government is in control, and regulates it all. That's where we lose.

Right now, I can't even convert my car to E-85 due to an EPA regulation about pollution! Talk about backwards!

We need to return our power structure to the people, not middle-men lobbyists, or even groups of ANY sort. It's all about personal empowerment to make good decisions. The way it is now, we can't even put up windmills in most residential districts due to the pure amount of legal verbage not allowing out structures!

I'd love to use E-85 - strike that, I'd love to use E-100 for my older car, and buy an electric to use every day. But since this two party system is in charge, I cannot. Both sides are fully to blame.

Answer 4

Sugar cane does not grow well in the climate in most of the U.S. and corn does. Al Gore has said there are other technologies that can leapfrog the sugar cane being process used in Brazil, but he doesn't go into details. It is all about sound bites with him, and all politicians.

Answer 5

They really need to make E-85 out of something else. In a couple of years there will be tons of closed ethenal plants because people didn't want to pay $15 for their corn flakes. I like in one of the top producing states of corn and beans. This year, we could of had huge crops of beans, but everyone planted corn. Something needs to be done.

Answer 6

You just here about corn, because that is where the power is in America. Corn is our most abundant crop, and most grown. It is probably one of the worst for E-85, but the most available. It's mostly due to money and politics.

Answer 7

Actually, we are. Lots of research on switch grass, fruits, etc.