Corn
More than 40 percent of the U.S. corn crop was used to produce corn ethanol as of 2012. Corn is the chief source of the world’s fuel ethanol and most of that corn is grown in the United States. In 2013, roughly 36 billion gallons of renewable biofuel was produced as required by the United States government and around 15 billion gallons of that biofuel was grain based ethanol, including corn ethanol.
Disadvantages of Corn:
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Require large amounts of pesticide and fertilizer (both expensive and harmful to soil and water)
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Corn is a food staple and using it to produce biofuel has increased food prices worldwide, resulting in hunger
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Low production rate at an average of around 350 gallons of fuel per acre
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Relatively low energy yield
Advantages of Corn:
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Equipment and infrastructure needed for planting, harvesting, and processing is already in place
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Conversion of corn starch to ethanol is relatively simple
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Possible for the rest of the plant (cob, stalk, etc.) to produce ethanol too
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No indirect land use costs
Citation I-62
Citation I-63
CitationT-14