Fuel And Food From Corn

The campaign to make transportation fuels from corn and now wheat is disturbing (C&EN, June 25, page 15 and July 2, page 8). Ethanol production is targeted to consume 25% of the 2007 U.S. corn crop. Diversion of crops for biofuels has already led to large price increases for milk, tortillas, and other staples. This has created hardship for the working poor here and in Mexico.

Using foodstuffs for fuel is placing millions of poor at increased risk of famine. Biofuel projects are consuming food as well as depleting grain reserves. Four domestic corn crops since 1970 have been at least 20% below forecast, and global warming raises the likelihood of unfavorable weather. A major crop shortfall could precipitate serious food shortages and lead to staggering refugee problems, dwarfing the misery caused by Hurricane Katrina.

We are told that biomass will soon replace corn as a feedstock for ethanol. However, formidable obstacles remain. Even if cellulose can be converted cleanly into sugars, the harvest, transportation, and storage of biomass will be a logistical challenge. Will corporations suddenly abandon their grain fermenters to invest billions of dollars in an unproven biomass technology? Does biofuel production even make economic sense outside the tropics?

Humans are already appropriating 24% of the biomass that is produced (Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 2007, 104, 12942). Can Earth's ecosystems sustain the unprecedented stresses resulting from a full-fledged biofuels industry? The biofuels campaign represents a feeble attempt to address the energy shortage, which stems from unabated population growth coupled with a worldwide addiction to unsustainable lifestyles.

This craving will never be satiated. Thus, science and technology cannot solve the energy shortage. The only solution is to renounce the profligate use of energy. Until humanity overcomes its energy addiction and halts population growth, technological advances will be counterproductive, only delaying the inevitable remedy.

The current biofuels policy raises troubling questions. If biofuels turn into another costly boondoggle like the war in Iraq, will scientists be held accountable? What about scientists who fail to speak out against a foolhardy biofuels campaign? Are scientists setting the stage for affluent motorists to burn up the dinner of the poor? Squandering grain is decried in the fairy tale "Kornähren" (grain ears) and is incongruent with the biblical holiness associated with bread and agriculture. Strategically, economically, ecologically, and ethically, a policy of reliance on biofuels is a bad idea.

Bill Wilson
Houston