Transcript Slide 1

The effect of climate change on
corn and bio-ethanol profit in Iowa
Weitao Zhang
• Department of Agicultural and
Biosystems Engineering,
• Iowa State University, IA, USA
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What is Corn?
• Corn is a common large yield grain in North
America, which can be used as food and renewablr
energy resource.
• 332 million tons and 25% for corn ethanol-----2011
• Corn is a C4 plant, a better power to
photosynthesis at a lower CO2 concentration
• Affect factors: Precipitation, CO2, Temperature
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Why corn is called C4 plant?
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CO2 Concentration
Reference: http://www.noaanews.noaa.gov/stories2008/20080423_methane.html
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Precipitation to Corn
• Precipitation is positive to the corn field in the
higher latitudes area
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Precipitation in Iowa
• Iowa annual state-wide precipitation in inches from
1873-2008 (Data from Iowa Climatology Bureau 2010)
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Temperature to corn
• Higher temperature in reasonable range is
positive to the corn field in the higher latitudes
area
• Corn is very strict to climate environment for a
good result
Growth Stage
Period
Appropriate
Temperature (F)
Jointing Stage
June
65~69
60.8
61.4
78.3
78.2
Silking Stage
July
67~71
64.7
65.4
84.1
82.4
Ripening Stage
August to
September
58~67
66.1
66.7
87.2
86.9
Average Minimum
Temperature (F)
1900~1950
1950~2008
Average maximum
Temperature (F)
1900~1950
1950~2008
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Temperature in Iowa
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Temperature in Iowa
• Number of days with a maximum temperature greater
than or equal to 100 F in Iowa over the most recent
forty years (Data from Iowa Climatology Bureau 2010)
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Corn production and price
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USDA 40 million gallon ethanol plant model
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Corn price and bio-ethanol plant profit
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Conclusion
• CO2 concentration are gradually increasing all over the
world; Precipitation in Iowa will partly increase;
Temperature will partly decrease and be narrow in
summer
• According to compare and analyze related data, it can be
predicted that corn production keeps increasing in the
condition of climate change.
• Due to the increasing corn production and relative
decreasing corn prices, corn-based ethanol plant in Iowa
can get more profit from climate change, which results are
different from other negative effect of climate change.
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Reference
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Questions?
http://www.treehugger.com/corporate-responsibility/new-study-finds-corn-based-ethanol-more-harmful-than-oil-based-gasoline.html; http://boysinourbooks.com/2015/02/06/question-of-the-week-series-couples/
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Hyun Kim