An industry that burns over 90 billion gallons of fossil fuels annually, the maritime shipping industry presents an opportunity to grow demand for corn by switching to ethanol fuel. Illinois Corn Board member Rob Elliott explains that the industry is looking for ways to adopt cleaner fuel sources instead of the heavy fuel oil it currently uses.
“One of their major players, MAERSK, is an extremely large shipper- you might see their containers going by as you’re waiting at a railroad crossing. They’re a large shipper, and many of those big shipping containers go from one part of the world to another,” says Elliott.
By making ethanol the fuel of choice for a company such as MAERSK, Elliott says there could be a significant increase in corn demand.
“Maersk is working on and testing a 100% ethanol-fueled engine. If those all came into play, like I said, at that 90 billion gallons, it would be a significant increase in our corn demand.”
Elliott adds that the rail industry, which uses a billion gallons of mainly low-sulfur diesel fuel annually, would be another opportunity for both the ethanol and corn industries.
