From the NYTimes, the difference in greenhouse gas emissions from cars burning gasoline-only fuel and fuels made from various forms of ethanol:
- Corn ethanol: 0-3 percent greenhouse gas emission reduction.
- Sugar cane ethanol: 50-70 percent reduction.
- Cellulosic ethanol: 90-plus percent.
But wait, there’s more:
Which form of ethanol production is the United States government (and its taxpayers) subsidizing? Corn, of course.
Which form of ethanol production does the United States government levy a 53-cents-a-gallon import tariff on? Sugar cane, naturally.
And which form of ethanol production is under-funded, under-researched, and furthest from commercial production? The cleanest choice, obviously.
An additional snippet from the comments at the NYTimes article:
Estimated ethanol yields by the gallon for different plants per acre of land:
- Corn Grain = 354 gallons per acre
- Sugar Cane = 662 gallons per acre
- Switch Grass = 1150 gallons per acre
- Hemp = 1000 gallons per acre