Editorial: Ethanol can’t meet all our alternative fuel needs
Post Bulletin.com
Seven years ago, there were 54 ethanol plants in America, with a production capacity of 1.7 billion gallons per year. Today, there are 119 plants nationwide, with another 86 under construction or being expanded. Annual production capacity could top 10 billion gallons next year.
No matter how you crunch the numbers, that’s extraordinary growth for an industry that’s become the rising star in our national quest to “go green” with biofuels. Minnesota is right in the thick of things, with 20 corn-based plants in operation and more in the planning stage.
But there’s a reckoning ahead.
For decades, as better machinery, plant genetics and herbicides increased corn yields, farmers didn’t exactly cash in. Increasing supply while demand remained largely stagnant kept corn prices in the neighborhood of $2 per bushel as recently as December 2005.
