I’ve seen documentaries lately on trying to improve alcohol production from corn. Corn should not even be considered as a fuel source. Most of our corn crop is already being ultilized in this country. The small percentage that remains is exported. Trying to use our corn for alcohol production will only drive up the price. Most of our corn is used for animal feed. If corn goes up, meat goes up.

Any vegetative material can be used to produce alcohol. I know of a huge supply that is being put in our landfills as we speak. Cities’ yard waste. Grass clippings, leaves, limbs all put on the curb and picked up by sanitation crews nation wide. Why not utilize this free fuel source? Here’s another source of wasted energy. Every oil refinery you see will have several large fires that burn constantly to get rid of excess gas. What a waste! Why can’t these fires be used to produce steam for electicity or used to distill alcohol?

Where I come from farmers are paid NOT to plant a certain amount of acreage in order not to overproduce. Why isn’t this land being utilized for alcohol crop production? Switchgrass would be an excellent choice for this. It is already being studied and shows the potential of producing six times more alcohol per acre than corn! Also, in the south it could be harvested twice a year. The only thing holding back mass production of alcohol for fuel is the lack of production facilities. Once mass production is achieved, prices will come down.

I saw a documentary where a man said they haven’t figured out how to break down the tough cellulose of switchgrass in order to make alcohol from it. This doesn’t sound right to me. Alcohol has been made from wood for hundreds of years. Maybe big oil is trying to put a stall on alternative fuels. Here is a recent statement from OPEC. “If America doesen’t stop trying to develope alternative fuels, we are going to raise the price of oil so high they won’t be able to afford it.” I hope they are digging their own graves.

I say let’s utilize good ol’ American technology and know how and leave the oil where it belongs. Miles under ground. When Henry Ford put the model “T” into production it was designed to run on alcohol. There weren’t any gas stations. Perhaps history will repeat itself.