Much has happened in 2013 for the ethanol-producing world: taking a look at new sources for ethanol, an inaccurate story instigating Twitter reaction, and markets looking to ethanol as both a worry and a possible helper to the corn industry.
Sweet spot for sugar
In August, word of utilizing sugar to produce ethanol came up in the Marketing Talk forum.
Kstater85 posted, "Thursday, the USDA initiated a new "Sugar for Ethanol" program to mitigate the costly US sugar storage and reduce huge stocks estimated at 2.3 MMTs. It takes roughly 400,000 MTs of sugar to replace 20 Mil Bu of corn to produce the same amount of ethanol. Some commercials argue that at least 60-70 Mil Bu of corn will be replaced in ethanol produced by sugar."
Sugar is more unstable than corn and highly flammable. Most ethanol plants use corn for production, and switching to sugar is not the easiest process. Sugar can be abrasive to a plant's equipment. The production process might exert emissions that violate the air pollution laws of the area.
November rolled around and ethanol plants bought sugar at almost a 90% discount.
Associated Press blowout
The Associated Press released a story November 12, 2013, revealing "The secret environmental cost of U.S. ethanol policy."
"For years, corn ethanol has been a centerpiece of America's green energy strategy. President Barack Obama and his administration have described this homegrown fuel as a way to reduce greenhouse gases and to wean the country off foreign sources of oil. But an Associated Press investigation examines the environmental impact of ethanol production. As farmers rushed to find new places to plant corn, they touched off a cascade of unintended consequences, including the elimination of millions of acres of conservation land."
