Source 4: Perkins, jerry. (2019, September 19) Corn-Based Ethanol Plants Diversify to Survive. Retrieved from https://www.agriculture.com/news/business/corn-based-ethanol-plants-diversify-to-survive
Summary: The ethanol production plant in Pixley, California produces slightly more at 57 million gallons of ethanol fuel a year. They generate their own electricity with co-generation units. The Pixley plant can use natural gas or biogas produced by digesting dairy cattle manure. The co-generation of power lowers the plant’s carbon intensity, as it means the plant doesn’t use electricity from the grid, much of which is derived from coal. Several years ago, the plant installed a bio-digester that produces biogas from the manure of a large neighboring dairy. The biogas is used as a substitute for natural gas.
Response: Ethanol fuel is definitely a preferable alternative to fossil fuels. The fact that the plant is using renewable energy to produce the ethanol fuel is even better. Hopefully, more places will follow this example, and ethanol will eventually phase out regular gasoline. If it were to get this popular, corn farmers might be helped out significantly, as there would be a higher demand for corn that might offset its super low prices.
This was interesting to read about alternatives for burning fossil fuels and is a step in the right direction but it really made me consider what impact it may have on farmers. Will this truly help the issues with the corn prices or will it only make the problem worse as more people turn to corn cultivation?
This is an interesting issue. While it may be a better option compared to fossil fuels, the energy needed t make the fuel is nowhere near as efficient as renewable energy sources. This also does not help us move away from corn as a monocrop crop.