With all this corn talk naturally comes the subject of ethanol. Especially considering the price of gas at the moment, its no wonder ethanol is a popular topic. So far, almost every group we have visited has either mentioned ethanol or made an argument regarding it. Coming into this trip, I’ll admit that I knew very little about it, especially the fact that it comes from corn. Our trip to Lincolnway Energy certainly answered those questions, but it also raised some new ones. To make ethanol, corn is highly processed through fermentation, chemical processing, and distillation to produce a 200 proof alcohol that can be rationed with gasoline to produce fuel. Today, most ethanol is used in the form of E10 (about 10% of the gasoline is comprised of ethanol), and some as E15 (about 15% of the gasoline is comprised of ethanol) for cars made after 2001. Here in Iowa, it is also common to see higher blends like E85. Many opponents in the food v. fuel debate argue that using ethanol is taking food out of people’s mouth to put it in our gas tanks. But, we learned today that our recent increase in ethanol use has not affected the amount of corn used for food use.  Our corn supply has continued to grow exponentially to keep up with the ever-increasing demand. We also learned more about the options of utilizing cellulosic ethanol as a biofuel as well. Cellulosic ethanol is produced from plant matter like corn stovers, switchgrass, and wood chips. While it would seem that these products would be found plentiful in nature and human trash, the problem lies with the availability of these corn stovers here in Iowa. While Iowa does not lack in corn stalk waste, the removal of these stovers would be depleting the soil of nutrients, and thus requiring more nitrogen to be added to the soil during the next planting season.  Futhermore, removing other cellulosic resources from the environment can be indescribably damaging to the ecosystem and biodiversity of the land. Despite these issues, we should be utilizing these alternate sources of fuel energy and taking advantage of ways to stretch our fuel use. In our Imhoff reading, he suggests that simply by becoming cognizant fuel consumers and car owners we can improve our fuel efficiency. He claims that “sensible driving” and regular car maintenance can improve the estimated miles per gallon anywhere from 1.0 to 6.6.