A new report warns growing more corn for ethanol production carries some risks
for clean water. Chuck Quirmbach has details:
Transcript
A new report warns growing more corn for ethanol production carries some risks
for clean water. Chuck Quirmbach has details:
A lot more corn is going toward making ethanol, but a study by the National Research
Council says in areas with limited water supplies, adding acres of corn, or
launching water-using ethanol production plants is a major concern. The report also says increased use of fertilizers and pesticides on corn fields
could trigger more water pollution.
Study committee chairman Jerald Schnoor urges more research to help
extract energy from lower-impact perennial crops such as grasses:
“There needs to be a technology breakthrough so that enzymes and organisms
can break down the cellulose, the hemi-cellulose and lignin from plants like
switchgrass, woody biomass plants like poplar and willow.”
Schnoor says more research dollars could come from reducing federal subsidies
for corn-based ethanol.
For the Environment Report, I’m Chuck Quirmbach.