Grains
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Bioenergy > Feedstocks > Grains
Note: See also the BioenergyWiki page on the Food-versus-fuel debate.
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Grains are cereal food crops. Various kinds of grain can be used to produce bioethanol.
Grains that are being used as ethanol feedstocks include corn, milo, sorghum, and wheat.
Demand for grains for use in producing ethanol can compete with other uses of grains, including as food for human or animal consumption, as well as direct or indirect changes in land use.
News
- USDA Report Punches Another Hole in Land Use Change Theory, 30 June 2010 by Renewable Fuels Association: "The amount of land dedicated to crops in the United States has dropped for the second straight year in 2010, according to a report released today by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The report, which shows total cropland has declined 6 million acres since 2008, is further evidence that growth in ethanol production is not leading to cropland expansion, according to the Renewable Fuels Association (RFA)."
- "While 2010 corn acres increased 1.6% from 2009, the uptick was more than offset by reductions in acreage for other coarse grains and wheat. USDA estimates total 2010 crop acres at 318.9 million, down from 319.3 million in 2009 and 325 million in 2008."
- "RFA also noted that corn plantings were down from last year in many states with high levels of Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) acreage, which challenges the notion that grain ethanol expansion is leading to increased CRP conversion."
- "USDA’s Acreage Report is available here."[1]
- U.S. Feeds One Quarter of its Grain to Cars While Hunger is on the Rise, 21 January 2010 press release by Earth Policy Institute: "The 107 million tons of grain that went to U.S. ethanol distilleries in 2009 was enough to feed 330 million people for one year at average world consumption levels. More than a quarter of the total U.S. grain crop was turned into ethanol to fuel cars last year."
- "In a globalized food economy, increased demand for food to fuel American vehicles puts additional pressure on world food supplies."
- EPI calculates that "even if the entire U.S. grain crop were converted to ethanol..., it would satisfy at most 18 percent of U.S. automotive fuel needs."
- "The amount of grain needed to fill the tank of an SUV with ethanol just once can feed one person for an entire year....Continuing to divert more food to fuel, as is now mandated by the U.S. federal government in its Renewable Fuel Standard, will likely only reinforce the disturbing rise in hunger."[2]
| Controversies concerning bioenergy | edit | |
| Food security | Food-versus-fuel debate (Biofuel impacts on food prices) Food crops used for biofuels: corn | ||
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