Is it practical to switch to sugar cane ethanol instead of staying with corn ethanol?

Question

The benefits of wwitching to surgar cane are far better than that of corn ethanol. It produces 8 times the amount of ethanol, and is releasing 80% less pollutants than corn ethanol. Plus, it will cost alot less than the current gas prices.
The main benefit, and my primary question, is how do we get around the corn farmers from suffering? Subsidaries, or is this not possible?

The benefits of wwitching to surgar cane are far better than that of corn ethanol. It produces 8 times the amount of ethanol, and is releasing 80% less pollutants than corn ethanol. Plus, it will cost alot less than the current gas prices.
The main benefit, and my primary question, is how do we get around the corn farmers from suffering? Subsidaries, or is this not possible?
I have a few things I'de like to say on your answers.
1)To the first comment, corn is cheaper...BULL..
Sugar cane only costs because the US has made importation taxes douche.
2) Yes it does grow mainly in Brazil...not part of my question, but a valid point, and my main point for getting the imports.
3)I agree with you completely, but what I want to know is, how can we save the corn farmers from losing money from subsidaries?
4)Global warming? WTF? You are retarded
5)I like where you're going, but I'm wondering if the farmers will accept the fact that their prices have raised that much, and accept less pay?

Answer 1

It is not practical, at least not in the United States. In the United States, corn will grow better in most places than Sugar Cane will. We would have to import the sugar cane and it would cost MORE than the current oil prices are. Corn, while inefficient, is much cheaper.

Answer 2

Like many government programs and incentives corn based ethanol was a bad idea to start with. But it did help corn farmers. If we are going to get serious about ethanol I am sure that the government and universities have done enough research to know what crop to grow (like switch grass) that would increase yields and grow well in this country. I was under the impression that using ethanol was supposed to be for the good of the country and not just benefit corn farmers. If we switch to different crops the price of corn will go down lowering food prices. But the farmers can then grow the more efficient crops, so it is not like we would be putting them out of work.

Answer 3

Brazil produces a very large amount of ethanol from sugar cane at a very low cost.

We can buy ethanol from Brazil and import that ethanol to the United States at a much lower cost than we can produce the same ethanol from corn grown in the United States.

Unfortunately we currently have anachronistic trade barriers in place to prevent that.

Answer 4

You wouldn't want to make ethanol. That's very, very inefficient because distillation takes a LOT of heat energy. Four pounds of coal goes into making six pounds of ethanol. (but it's American coal, and the farm lobby loves the corn subsidies, which is why the government supports it. It's not for the environment, they just say that to sound pro-environment.) If you were going to run a power plant, you would just burn sugarcane directly. Boilers can run on it, and so can diesels. (Really! Ingersoll Rand built em, for sugar plantations where they had plenty of the stuff.) However the smart play would be to grow tropical oil crops and squeeze oil out of em, and use it straight or make biodiesel. (which is much simpler than the other fellow said, and takes very little energy.) Ships can run on vegetable oil as-is, and locomotives could with a little modification. Be good for their engines too. Cars, make biodiesel.

Answer 5

Growing sugar cane requires a warmer climate than what we have in most of the United States. It does grow well in Brazil because that is a tropical country.

Answer 6

With the global warming, shouldn't be any problem starting grow sugar cane from the south to the north in ths USA.

Answer 7

MORE CORN IS GROWN IN THE US THAN SUGAR CANE