Five years ago, ethanol was seen as the next big thing to wean the
U.S. off foreign oil. Then some studies on the corn-based fuel cast
doubt on its environmental benefits, and auto companies turned their
attention to hybrids and electric cars. The hype died off, but the
ethanol industry is alive and well, driving a big change in America’s
corn consumption.
Rising up out of the corn
fields outside Lake Odessa, Mich., is the ethanol refinery for Carbon
Green Bioenergy. The company’s CEO, Mitch Miller, says a lot of
refineries were popping up when this one was built in 2006.
“Five
years ago, ethanol was a craze. It was the next best thing,” he says.
Now, not so much. Refineries aren’t being built. Politicians aren’t
stopping by with platoons of reporters.
Yet when the ethanol hype went away, the ethanol industry got bigger than ever.
