OCPA SPECIAL REPORT

Common misconceptions about ethanol

ETHANOL PROVIDES AN environmentally-friendly alternative to petroleum fuel and important markets for grain corn. This is not news to Ontario corn producers, but it is news to many people from the non-farm public - the people that make up the majority of Ontario's population.

For people who don't fully understand corn production or what is involved with converting renewable crops such as corn to fuel, there are a number of misconceptions.  How ethanol is made, what it does and doesn't remove from the food chain, and how the industry is faring in Ontario are often discussed in public forums with varying degrees of accuracy.

In an effort to quell some of these myths and provide Ontario corn producers with basic information to use when they encounter some of these misunderstandings, OCPA has published an ethanol fact sheet. The fact sheet debunks the top five myths that are found within the general public.

As the OCPA fully embraces Web 2.0 technology, new social media resources were utlitized to identify key misnomers about ethanol. Using a search function on a social media website called Twitter allowed for the identification of five common myths that non-farmers and farmers alike use in the ethanol debate.

MYTH #1: ETHANOL TAKES FOOD OFF THE DINNER TABLE
Actually, ethanol puts food on your dinner table. Ethanol does not take protein, fibre or fat from the food supply, but it does create by-products that provide valuable contributions to your diet. One bushel of corn produces more than 10 litres of ethanol and approximately 18 pounds of distillers grains, a high-protein ingredient in animal feed that puts meat on your table.

The rest of the corn is turned into carbon dioxide, which is bottled and used in greenhouse production that creates quality Canadian-grown fresh vegetables year-round. 

MYTH #2: CREATING ETHANOL IS NOT ENVIRONMENTALLY FRIENDLY
Early in 2009 a groundbreaking study was released by researchers at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln that confirmed ethanol produces half the greenhouse gas emissions of gasoline.

Prior studies arguing the opposite used outdated data from the early days when the ethanol plants were powered by coal instead of natural gas. Earlier studies also didn’t account for updated farming practices such as no-till planting, improved technologies and new crop varieties that lessen agriculture’s environmental footprint.

MYTH#3: IN TODAY'S ECONOMY THE ETHANOL INDUSTRY IS IN TROUBLE
Unlike the United States, Canada has slowly grown its biofuel industry to meet legislated domestic demand.  The federal government has made a commitment to “require five percent average renewable content in Canadian gasoline and diesel fuel, such as ethanol and biodiesel, by 2010.”

Construction of new ethanol and biodiesel plants in Canada will create 14,000 jobs and result in $1.5 billion of investment. There will be 10,000 direct and indirect jobs and $600 million of annual economic activity added to the Canadian economy when these production facilities are up and running.

MYTH #4: ETHANOL IS CAUSING PROBLEMS FOR THE MEAT SECTOR
2005 and 2006 were the worst years on record for Ontario grain and oilseed producers, and prices for grains such as corn were at an all-time low. It was estimated that 1,250 farmers were going out of business each year because they were producing food below the cost of production.

Corn prices rebounded for a short time in 2008 and 2009. That means grain and oilseed farmers will continue to stay in business, growing corn and other crops that provide the foundation of the cattle, hog, dairy, egg and poultry sectors by producing quality animal feed.

MYTH #5: CORN ETHANOL IS NOT A LONG-TERM SOLUTION
Corn ethanol is the foundation and experts are building upon it with cellulosic technologies. Increasingly, we’ll be able to use non-recyclable municipal landfill waste, low-input dedicated energy crops on marginal land such as growing switchgrass and organic material such as corn stover. Corn ethanol is vital to the evolution of green energy.  Ethanol is totally biodegradable. It reduces air pollutants, lowers harmful greenhouse gas emissions and cuts smog.