Is Ethanol Production Fueling the Size of the Dead Zone?

[sparky]

Every year a New Jersey-size patch of the Gulf of Mexico where no sea life can be sustained is created by nitrogen-based fertilizer runoff. This runoff comes largely from corn production, which is now tied heavily to the production of ethanol in areas of the Midwest where the runoff comes from. So what can we do about it?

Is Ethanol Production Fueling the Size of the Dead Zone? : Gas 2.0

[forfismum]

Originally Posted by sparky

Every year a New Jersey-size patch of the Gulf of Mexico where no sea life can be sustained is created by nitrogen-based fertilizer runoff. This runoff comes largely from corn production, which is now tied heavily to the production of ethanol in areas of the Midwest where the runoff comes from. So what can we do about it?

Is Ethanol Production Fueling the Size of the Dead Zone? : Gas 2.0

I think that problem has been around far longer than ethanol production but it is nice to have someone to blame

[wolranes]

Corn has always been a waste of resources, unless you eat it!

[forfismum]

Originally Posted by wolranes

Corn has always been a waste of resources, unless you eat it!

With Pheasant or Guinea Fowl ?
It actually a difficult crop to grow here in Pantaloonia ,mostly grown as silage and really only does well in the extreme south and then onlt once in about 4 years.There are hardy varieties on the way but it is still an expensive thing to grow.I have reservations about the inputs and consequential run-offs.

[TheBaldGuy]

First we have to realize the facts of the situation. Despite media claims otherwise, there has been no successful attempts to link corn acreage, or crop acreage overall, to thew size of the dead zone.

That's right, none.

When you chart them together there is no correlation. Yeah, I know "common sense" as told by the press says that the two are linked, and linked directly. But the data show the opposite. There is no causal link shown by the data. Indeed there is no consistency between them.

It would be one thing if an increase in planted acreage occurred in the same year as an increase in dead zone size, it'd be another if the size lagged by a year or even two. But not even that is evident.

Some serious research needs to be done to determine why the variances occur, because we've got nothing that is solid so far. Personally, I suspect currents have the largest impact. If currents spread the effect over a larger area or concentrate the nutrients into a more dense population we'd see changes along with changes in it's size. Another factor to consider is hurricane presence. While I've not run a correlation attempt between the two my gut tells me there may be a link between them. A more active hurricane season (and tropical storms in the area) with storms in the Gulf will alter currents even if temporarily. It would be interesting to see if there is,or is not, a correlation between the two.

[greenacy]

If ethanol fuel is to really take a huge market share corn production is going to have to skyrocket to fill the need. I live in the Indiana and we are happy to supply everyone with corn but if it is causing harmful runoff we could have serious problems.