Obama’s tax cut deal extends questionable biofuels credits

Even as the Senate extends tax credits for ethanol, more questions are being raised about the impact of corn-based ethanol on land use. New research indicates, however, that an alternative source for ethanol may be found in the sea.

The tax cut deal recently passed by the Senate includes a 45-cent credit per gallon of ethanol blended with gasoline and a 54-cent tariff on imported ethanol (the tariff specially targets ethanol imported from Brazil, which is made more economically from sugar cane). Extending the tax credit and tariff reaffirms the commitment of the US – at least for another year – to develop the corn-based ethanol industry, in spite of concerns that the overall effect of the policy may be doing more harm than good.

In a recent paper from the School of Public Policy at the University of Calgary, researchers viewed the ethanol industry through an ethical lens. According to authors Michal Moore and Sarah Jordaan, policies that promote corn-based ethanol do not take into how it impacts land use and affects rural economies. They note that one of the results of global warming is more extinction. But it won’t do much good using ethanol to lessen global warming if producing it degrades more land – because that will also cause extinctions. They write

While it is unclear whether climate impacts to terrestrial ecosystems may be diminished by shifting to biofuels, it is clear is that ecosystems are at risk from increasing agricultural production for biofuels.

Instead of terrestrial biomass for ethanol production, the answer might be marine biomass. As the folks at the University of Calgary fret about the impact of corn-based ethanol, scientists at the University of Illinois are developing a way to get the biofuel from red seaweed. When processed, seaweed yields both glucose and galactose sugars. While conventional yeast readily ferments glucose into alcohol, the fermentation of galactose is very inefficient. Through genetic engineering, these scientists are developing a new strain of yeast that increases the fermentation of galactose by 250%.

Now that sounds like a galactic breakthrough for ethanol production.