The Pros And Cons Of Ethanol Production

Ethanol production was developed in hopes of severing our ties with fossil fuels in favor of alternative energy, such as biofuels. Although, VOCs emissions are released during production of ethanol in a factory, the quality of air is greatly improved when burning ethanol versus fossil fuels. Burning ethanol instead of fossil fuels reduces the amount of cancer-causing greenhouse gases that go into the atmosphere. Ethanol production ranks at the bottom of industrial water usage, but is still not out of the woods with the abundance of water usage needed in corn feedstock and ethanol manufacturing and processing facilities. Many acres of land are needed to grow corn crops, however, many corn farmers are successful in growing more corn on less acreage.

The consequences as the result of the earth warming up cannot be ignored any longer. We need to stop wasting our time debating if climate change is man-made or a natural phenomenon. It is clear to me, and many scientists, that we are slowly killing our planet and all its inhabitants (human and non-human animals). We need to stand united and stand tall in this fight to save the ecosystems. We have become an over populated consumerist society, consuming far more natural resources and energy than the generations before the Industrial Revolution. Thus giving off substantial amounts of greenhouse gases that dramatically change the temperature of our planet. It is well documented in various reports how much the Earth’s temperature is rising and is predicted to rise at a rate of 2°C in the next two to three decades. With two-thirds of the world’s population living within two hundred miles of seacoast, and with most of the world’s economy concentrated in coastal cities, rising sea levels would cause immense devastation. Climate change is happening before our eyes with unpredictable storms and weather patterns, severe droughts, and melting polar caps. It is up to each of us to change our behavior to a more sustainable one, by utilizing renewable energy sources--humankind and the Earth are depending on it (Lovelock

Today the typical American is spoiled. Humans seem to have infinite resources at their fingertips, for the moment. However, as the population grows, resources will be harder to come by. In order to feed and house the growing population, vast amounts of land will be cleared for agriculture and development. Even though developing countries continue to suffer from lack of available resources and California is going through a severe drought, the majority of humans view natural resources as being infinite; which is evident in the way that they abuse and over use land, water, and energy. It has been engraved in their minds that natural resources are unlimited and free to use whenever they need to. When turning on a light or running the faucet, humans do not think about where that energy is coming from and what that energy does to the environment when it is being used improperly. This brings to mind Locke’s theory of private property, which is based on individuals understanding that they should only take what they need, waste nothing, and leave enough for others to use. Unfortunately, this is not always the case in our society today-as not all humans have a moral compass and follow the natural laws (Dresner