Let’s get this out on the table right away: Ethanol produced from corn is not a “green” fuel. In fact, it may be just the opposite. So let’s nix the proposal to build an ethanol refinery in the Quonset Business Park.
If the state is really interested in promoting clean, sustainable energy, it need look no further than its own abundant resources – wind, tidal and solar energy to name the big three. Technologies, proven and in development, can harness their power without the kind of environmental problems caused by making corn-based ethanol.
The proponents of the Quonset ethanol refinery admit that the plant would use about 250 million gallons of water to produce 55 million to 60 million gallons of the fuel per year. But, they argue, the water would come from the business park’s wastewater treatment plant.
However, not returning the treated water to the ecosystem would allow higher concentrations of salt water to contaminate the local freshwater streams and aquifers.
Other problems with the corn-based fuel:
• Enormous quantities of water are required during the growing process.
• The explosion of ethanol refining is driving up the price of corn and thus food costs.
• Corn is the least efficient source of ethanol – half as efficient as sugar cane or sugar beets and one-quarter as efficient as switch grass.
• Using current technology, creating ethanol from corn uses more energy than is produced when the final product is combusted.
Not every business opportunity is the right. The state should reject this plan and refocus our resources on genuinely green energy. •
