Ethanol is a form of alcohol. Up to a certain limit, it mixes with gasoline and works OK in most cars and trucks (although it reduces mileage because alcohol contains less energy than gasoline).
Federal law orders the fuel industry to add a certain amount of ethanol to motor fuel every year. In 2012, it is 13.2 billion gallons.
In this country, ethanol is made almost entirely from corn. That’s a problem, because most of the corn grown in the U.S. was traditionally used to make feed for poultry and livestock – chickens, turkey, pigs, dairy cows, beef cattle – all the animals used for food for people. Even fish (the ones raised on farms) are fed corn.
Instead of being used to help produce food at an economical cost, corn products are being pumped into your gas tank. An astounding 40 percent of all the corn that is grown in the United States is going into ethanol.
