Corn confusion is cropping up all over as people debate the pros and cons of ethanol fuel. For some people the sole complaint is the use of such a large amount of our corn crops for fuel instead of food. Others don’t like ethanol because they say they get fewer miles to the gallon with it in their tanks and that it damages small engines.

At the same time, many agree that the U.S. needs to find a way to buy less oil from the Middle East and using an American-made, clean-burning product to replace some of the gas that would normally be putting money into Middle Eastern pockets is a good idea.

The vast majority of gas stations today have 10 to 15 percent ethanol in the gas consumers buy at the pump. Once in a while you will see a sign out front of a station proclaiming “no ethanol.” The Handy Stop on 12th Street in Tifton is one such station.

Lynda Moorman, manager of the Handy Stop, explains, “The gas in our pumps is all no-ethanol. If you do any research at all you will see that when ethanol sits for more than a couple of months it reverts back to an alcohol/water mixture that damages engines. Most cars since 2001 are ethanol ready and you burn your gas fast  enough for that not to be a problem, but small engines like lawn mowers, Weed Eaters, even boat motors, are damaged by ethanol when they sit unused. Another reason we don’t have ethanol in our gas is that you get between three and five miles per gallon less than you do with gas that is ethanol free.”

Dr. Craig Kvien, UGA professor of crop and soil sciences at the National Environmentally Sound Production Agriculture Laboratory (NESPAL), says, “Why is the military, the Air Force this year, starting up a big program on renewable fuels not made from petroleum? Why would that be?

“Well goodness, when you’re in the Air Force, the Navy, and you know every dollar that you spend on fuel — a portion of that goes to fund the folks you’re fighting. So how much sense does that make?

“So, yeah, ethanol is a U.S. product that actually helps the gasoline from an oxygenation standpoint so it does help on that side of things. It makes the gas burn better.

“Of course, since 2001, all the car engines are ethanol ready. With some small engines, the higher ethanol blends will give some trouble. But the majority of our fleet on the road today are ready.”

In a recent New York Times article, Steven Rattner reported that ethanol production from corn has played a part in the price of bacon going up by 24 percent in the last year because about 40 percent of corn grown in the U.S. goes into animal feed and the price is climbing.

Rattner also reports that the cost of corn has risen to a record $7.87 per bushel, while reducing the food supply to a hungry world by putting 4 out of every 10 ears of corn into ethanol. He also cries foul on the $11 billion a year the government gives in subsidies to the corn complex.

Biofuels Digest reports that examination of corn stocks show ethanol will become the largest consumer of corn for the first time ever, surpassing livestock use.

Biofuel scientists around the world are using many things to produce ethanol without corn. Argentina produces ethanol with sugar cane. China is working with great success on ethanol production from sweet sorghum.

According to Dr. Shi-Zong Li of Tsinghua University in China, the use of a food crop on such a large scale is unacceptable because it could cause a food shortage. He is working with sweet sorghum to produce ethanol with great success and in fact believes sweet sorghum is better for the production of ethanol than corn.

Bill Haslam, the governor of Tennessee, and U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., are promoting switchgrass for ethanol production. DuPont is preparing to produce switchgrass ethanol in Tennessee next year.

One of the reasons given for the switchgrass production is the desire to reduce the strain on corn production and lower corn prices.

Moorman says, “The gas sold in this area is mixed in Albany. We have to put in a special order to get ethanol-free gas. We have to pay more for our gas than people who buy the ethanol gas because the government has a subsidy of 51 to 61 cents per gallon on ethanol, so we have to pay more for gas that doesn’t have ethanol. We try to keep our prices for our customers close to ethanol gas. Ours is usually 1 to 3 cents higher per gallon, but you get more miles out of that gallon.”

Experts agree we are headed down a scary road by using so much of our corn supply for fuel rather than food. Experts also agree, and are acting on that opinion, that ethanol can be made as well or better with other products besides corn.

Several manufacturers have already come out with additives for small engine protection when using ethanol. Like so many things, ethanol is a work in progress.

Kvien says, “Understand the amount of fuel we have is limited. With China and India coming on board we’re seeing a squeeze on gasoline and it’s driving the price up. Ethanol is replacing 15 percent of the gas we would use. Hopefully, a little bit down the road, a bunch of technologies will help us get our fuel consumption down, especially the import of oils like petroleum. Sixty percent of our oil comes from overseas. Ethanol doesn’t fund our enemies. When you’re not putting ethanol in your gas you’re sending 15 percent more of your money overseas. The bottom line is, we buy way too much oil from folks we don’t need to be buying it from.”

Will ethanol from other agricultural products give better gas mileage or be less corrosive on small engines? Will we see ethanol from another source than corn on a large scale anytime soon? Only time, and the clear opinions of the people being expressed to our legislators, will tell.