This Easy Fix Is How You Stop Poisoning the Fish in the Gulf of Mexico

There’s a 6,475-square-mile “dead zone” in the Gulf of Mexico. Roughly the same size as Connecticut and Rhode Island, this area located off the Louisiana coast becomes so polluted that it can’t support the fish and shrimp populations that are vital to southern fisherman. While actions by those living in the bayous play a part, the real cause is located 1,000 miles north: Iowa’s golden cornfields, whose runoff is dirtying the Mississippi River and its tributaries, says Dan Jaynes, a research soil scientist at the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Laboratory who’s studying ways to decrease the contamination.
While the prairie’s black soil is extremely fertile — roughly 25 million acres of cropland were harvested last year — the former swampland is also excessively moist. “It’s a fairly flat landscape, so water has no place to go,” Jaynes says. That’s why, beginning a century ago, farmers in the Hawkeye State built artificial drainage systems (that consisted of four-inch-wide clay pipes buried a few feet underground; today, perforated, plastic tubing is used) to shunt water into streams.

Installation of saturated buffer along Bear Creek, Iowa.

Today, these small-scale systems add high levels of nitrates (a form of nitrogen) and phosphorous (additives that largely come from fertilizer) to nearby waterways. During the spring, these nutrients fuel algal growth, presenting a health hazard to the many cities like Des Moines and Cedar Rapids that obtain their drinking water from the rivers. (Des Moines’s water utility has filed a controversial federal lawsuit against drainage districts upstream.)
Jaynes has a simple solution to the problem that’s impacting the entire Midwestern Corn Belt, from Ohio to southern Minnesota: just shift the pipes 30 to 50 feet away from the streams to allow the water to percolate through the vegetated land between the fields’ edge and the riverbed. Grasses and soils retain some of the nitrates or send them back to the atmosphere as harmless gas, and in the process, the water’s nitrate levels drop anywhere from two-thirds to zero, according to several pilot projects of the “saturated buffer,” which was built in partnership with Iowa State University. The fix comes at a reasonable cost: ranging from $3,000 to $5,000 and can be installed within a half hour, Jaynes says.
If citydwellers along the Mississippi River and fisherman in the Gulf of Mexico want to see clearer waters, saturated buffers will have to be implemented, along with other land management practices, Jaynes says. The only alternative? “We can get rid of all the corn or soybeans in the area,” he adds, “but I don’t think that’s very practical.”

Read About the Remarkable Scientists Making Corn-Free Ethanol

When we first heard of the sustainable biofuel known as ethanol, it was heralded as a smart, home-grown alternative to our dependence on foreign oil. It turns out, however, that while corn-based fuel has a lot going for it, it’s far from being the most environmentally-friendly type of energy.
There are a whole slew of problems with ethanol — from the amount of land space, natural resources, and startling amount of money it takes to grow so much corn. (It takes, for example, about 800 gallons of water to grow a bushel of corn, which yields just three gallons of ethanol.) The challenge, it seems, is to find a way to reap all the benefits of ethanol without taking a toll on the planet.
MORE: North Dakota on Fire: One Man’s Quest to Turn Wasted Gas Into Power
Now, it appears, researchers from Stanford University have developed an eco-friendly alternative to traditional ethanol. The best part? They’ve done it without using any corn or other crops.
As announced in a recent press release, the California-based team has figured out how to produce liquid ethanol from carbon monoxide gas using an electrode made of a form of copper.
Matthew Kanan, an assistant professor of chemistry at Stanford and co-author of study, told Reuters that the prototype could be ready in two to three years.
“I emphasize that these are just laboratory experiments today. We haven’t built a device,” Kanan said. “But it demonstrates the feasibility of using electricity that you could get from a renewable energy source to power fuel synthesis — in this case ethanol. There are some real advantages to doing that relative to using biomass to produce ethanol.”
ALSO: How Used Cooking Oil Can Have an Extraordinary Second Life
As Fox News puts it lightly, the team has pretty much produced fuel out of thin air. Just think — if this Stanford method were to actually leave the laboratory, it could completely eliminate acres and acres of crops, water and fertilizer needed to produce biofuel. Sounds like smart — not to mention, eco-friendly — move to increase our country’s energy independence.
 

How America Is Investing in Local Fruits and Veggies

America’s Midwest is still best known for its corn fields, but apple orchards are making a comeback. Across the plains states, farmers are tearing down fields of corn — the high-starch variety commonly used for ethanol and cattle feed — and instead planting fruits and vegetables. According to crop analysts, because of the surplus of corn in the country — a record 97 million acres of farmland were devoted to it in 2012 — an acre of this crop is projected to net farmers only $284 this year after expenses. Compare that to apples, which will net an average of about $2,000 or more per acre, and it’s no wonder that farmers are ready to trade in corn stalks for more profitable fruit trees. And unlike other times in American history, the market for local produce is ripe for the picking. The federal government has urged Americans to double the amount of fruits and vegetables they eat, even as farmland for these healthy foods has decreased over the last decade. About 1.8 million acres of farmland were devoted to the top 25 vegetables in 2012. For fruits, including citrus, that number has dropped from 3.2 to 2.8 million acres in 10 years.
MORE: How to Feed Our Swelling Cities
And it’s not just corn growers who are hopping on the fruit wagon. As dairy farmers continue to face financial hardships, nearly two dozen Organic Valley Co-op members are now growing fruits, veggie, or both on their land. In North Carolina, 200 to 300 tobacco growers are now planting produce, according to the Appalachian Sustainable Agriculture Project. In Iowa, the sons and daughters of corn farmers are returning and starting their own produce businesses. “The children of corn farmers are coming back to the farm, and carving out 5 or 10 acres to grow fruits and vegetables,” Craig A. Chase, food and farm coordinator at Iowa State University, told the New York Times. “They can easily make $30,000 to $40,000 a year.”
Of course, growing fruits and vegetables is a lot more work than raising corn, especially for those with no experience. With that in mind, Richard Weinzierl, a crop sciences professor at the University of Illinois, started a series of classes teaching the basics. The first class, which was held in three locations around the state, had about 90 students, all of whom were interested in growing a variety of crops. This is good news for grocers, especially in the Midwest, who are becoming more interested in stocking local produce, and of course, for consumers, who are looking for healthier options for their families. And in many cases, the local produce is just as cheap, if not cheaper. “It’s a good feeling,” Tim B. Slepicka, an Illinois farmer said. “Especially knowing that one in six people are using food stamps. They’re looking for the least expensive calorie possible, and why should a pound of tomatoes — which are basically seed, dirt and water — have to cost as much or more than a frozen meal?”
ALSO: Why You Should Care About a Crop You’ve Never Heard Of