Rick Tolman

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Corn and EthanolGreen, Getting Greener
Rick Tolman National Corn Growers Association
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2007 a Very Good Year

• Production reaches 13.1 billion bushels
• Largest crop in U.S. history
• Average yield hits 151.1 bushels/acre
• The second-highest yield estimate in history

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How Many Corn Acres in 2008?
Average Projection 87.8 million acres
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2007 Corn Supply and Demand

• Total Supply 14.4 billion bushels
• Feed 42
• Ethanol 22
• Export 17
• Other Domestic 9
• Surplus10

Surplus
Other Domestic
Feed
Ethanol
Export
USDA 1/2008
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U.S. Fuel Ethanol Demand


Projected
Source USDA, ERS ProExporter Network
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• Ethanol critics are abundant

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The Truth about Ethanol

• Our production and surplus numbers indicate we
  can easily meet demand
• Surplus corn for 2007 is projected at 1.4 billion
  bushels
• Total supply for 2008 high even with lower
  acreage planted

World hunger has many causes. Lack of corn is
not one of them.
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Three Steps to Meeting Demand

• Increase corn production by boosting average corn
  yield significantly
• Dedicate more corn to ethanol by focusing on
  value of coproducts
• Improve efficiency to squeeze more ethanol from
  each bushel of corn

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1. Corn Yields Trending Up
184.5
183.3
169.4
15-year trend
Biotech trend (12-year)
35-year trend
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2. More Corn to Ethanol

• We increase portion of feed corn going to ethanol
  by replacing feed corn with high-nutrient ethanol
  coproducts

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3. Efficiency in Ethanol Production
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The New RFS
Other Advanced Biofuels
Cellulosic
Conventional Biofuels
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Green Support for Energy Bill
ALASKA WILDERNESS LEAGUE AUDUBON DEFENDERS OF
WILDLIFE ENVIRONMENT AMERICA NATIONAL
ENVIRONMENTAL TRUST NATIONAL TRIBAL
ENVIRONMENTAL COUNCIL NATIONAL WILDLIFE
FEDERATION NATURAL RESOURCES DEFENSE COUNCIL
NORTHERN ALASKA ENVIRONMENTAL CENTER PHYSICIANS
FOR SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY SIERRA CLUB
SOUTHERN ALLIANCE FOR CLEAN ENERGY SOUTHERN
ENVIRONMENTAL LAW CENTER UNION OF CONCERNED
SCIENTISTS THE WILDERNESS SOCIETY
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Green Support for Energy Bill
Letter and E-mail Sent Out 12/5/07
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Trends Looking Good
Biotech crops and other solutions have helped
farmers reduce use of herbicides and insecticides
previously used to protect crops.
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Trends Looking Good
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Nutrient Use Improving
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Nutrient Use Improving
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Nutrient Use Improving
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Tillage Trends
NOTE DOES NOT INCLUDE OTHER CONSERVATION TILLAGE
PRACTICES SUCH AS LOW-TILL, RIDGE-TILL, ETC.
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Total Crop Irrigation Trends
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What They Dont Tell You

• Nearly nine out of ten acres of corn require no
  water other than natural rainfall

13 Irrigated
13
87 Non-Irrigated
Source USDA 2006
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What They Dont Tell You
An acre of corn gives off 4,000 gallons of water
a day in evapotranspiration About 1 to 1.5
million gallons of moisture per acre annually
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Corn and the Water Cycle
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Corns Water Needs

• Approximately 20-25 inches of water are necessary
  to produce an acre of average-yielding corn
• This translates to about 597,388 gallons per acre
  per year, or nearly 4,000 gallons per bushel

Based on 22 acre-inches (U of KY)
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Corns Irrigation Needs

• Assumptions
• 82.6 million corn acres
• 12.4 million irrigated corn acres
• 12 inches of natural rainfall
• 10 inches of irrigation (271,540 gallons/acre)
• 3.4 trillion gallons (9.22 billion gallons/day)
• That sounds like a lot but
• An equivalent amount of water is required to
  refine one-fourth of our daily oil needs
• An equivalent amount of water is required to
  produce just 2 of the new automobiles
  manufactured annually in the U.S.

1,851 gallons of water per barrel of oil
(USGS) daily oil consumption is 20.8 million
bbls./day (EIA) 39,090 gallons of water per
new automobile (USGS) annual automobile
production is 12 million (Bureau of
Transportation Statistics)
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Most Crop Irrigation is Outside Corn Belt
Source USGS
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Corn Water Positive

• In aggregate, corn returns more moisture to the
  atmosphere than it withdraws from ground and
  surface water for irrigation
• 12.4 million acres require 9.22 billion gallons
  of surface and ground water irrigation per day
• But the entire corn crop (83 million acres) is
  returning about 290 billion gallons of water per
  day to the atmosphere through transpiration

3,500 gallons per day per acre
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Comparing Crops

• About 4,000 gallons of water to produce a bushel
  of corn
• 11,000 gallons to grow a bushel of wheat
• 15,000 gallons to grow an equivalent amount of
  alfalfa

Irrigated corn accounts for less than 20 of
total irrigated cropland acres in the United
States
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Water Use in Production

• 62,600 gallons to produce a ton of steel
• 39,090 gallons are needed to manufacture a new
  car, including tires
• 28,100 gallons to process a ton of beet sugar to
  make processed sugar
• 1,500 gallons to process a barrel of beer

Source USGS/USEPA
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More Perspective

• The average home uses 107,000 gallons of water
  per year
• 24 gallons of water needed to produce one pound
  of plastic
• 101 gallons of water needed to produce one pound
  of cotton
• 300 million gallons are needed to produce a
  single days supply of U.S. newsprint
• 150 gallons to produce the average size Sunday
  newspaper

Source USGS/USEPA
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One Bushel of Corn
AND EITHER
OR
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How Much Water?

• 3 gallons are required per gallon of corn
  ethanol 6 gallons are required per gallon of
  cellulosic ethanol
• Typical ethanol plant (40 MGY) uses about 330,000
  gallons of water per day
• Less than 2 of the daily water required by a
  municipality of 180,000
• Equivalent to the daily water required for a
  standard-size golf course

Sources RFA/NREL/Media
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How Much Water?

• The U.S. ethanol industry requires about 49
  million gallons of water per day (based on 6 BGY
  capacity)
• That equates to less than three-tenths of 1
  percent of U.S. daily industrial fresh water use
  (18.5 BG/day)

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Water and Oil Refining

• Estimates on water requirements for oil
  production vary widely
• USGS estimates 1,851 gallons of water are
  required to extract, transport and refine a
  barrel of oil (lifecycle)
• NREL estimates 65 to 90 gallons of water required
  per barrel of oil
• Conservative estimates show the water requirement
  for a gallon of gasoline (2 to 2.5 gallons
  NREL) is similar to that of ethanol (3 gallons)

Sources NREL, USGS
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Water and Power

• Three-fifths of a gallon of water is required per
  kilowatt-hour (kWh) at a coal-fired power plant
• Three-fourths of a gallon of water is required
  per kWh at a nuclear power plant
• It takes one kWh to power a 100-watt light bulb
  to burn for 10 hours

Sources NREL, USGS
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Much Water is Recycled

• In most cases, an ethanol plants process water
  is not discharged from the facility. Most of the
  water is recycled and reused by the boilers
• Any water discharged from a plant is treated and
  recycled for use elsewhere
• Water may also leave the plant as a component of
  the plants coproduct, distillers wet grains,
  which are fed to beef and dairy cows

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Working Together for Sustainability

• Creating Sustainable Outcomes for Agriculture
  Initiative
• Objectives
• Identify criteria for sustainable agriculture
  that are open to the full range of agricultural
  technology choices
• Support implementation of production systems that
  lead to broad performance improvements against
  these criteria

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Working Together for Sustainability

• Creating Sustainable Outcomes for Agriculture
  Initiative
• Outcomes sought
• Increasing productivity to meet future
  nutritional needs while decreasing impacts on the
  environment
• Improving human health through access to safe,
  nutritious food
• Improving social and economic well-being of
  agricultural communities

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Working Together for Sustainability

• American Farm Bureau
• American Soybean Association
• Bunge Limited
• Cargill
• Conservation Intl
• Cotton Incorporated
• DuPont
• Fleishman-Hillard
• General Mills
• Grocery Manufacturers Association

• Mars, Inc.
• McDonalds
• Monsanto
• National Association of Conservation Districts
• NCGA
• National Cotton Council
• Syngenta
• The Nature Conservancy
• United Soybean Board
• World Wildlife Fund

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QUESTIONS?