Shelled Corn

Why use corn as a fuel source?

• It Makes Sense with oil costs perpetually rising. The use of shelled corn as a fuel source will reduce the United States dependency on foreign sources of petroleum, while at the same time it will provide increased financial revenues for agricultural areas throughout this country. In addition, shelled corn is a fuel that can be produced within in a much shorter time period than all other fuel sources.

• Think about the Environment and using renewable sources of energy.  Shelled corn is a clean-burning fuel, as documented by several government studies concluding that there is less environmental pollution associated with burning shelled corn than fossil fuels. Plus, corn is very effective in pulling carbon dioxide from the environment and replacing it with oxygen through photosynthesis during the growing season. 

• We have plenty of corn for use as a fuel.  Utilizing corn as a fuel does not compete with the food supply needed around the world. Studies have shown that contemporary agricultural systems can produce sufficient quality and quantity of food for the world's population, with additional resources available so that agricultural products can be used as fuel.

A number of manufacturers now make stoves which will burn shelled corn. Although similar to wood stoves, these new stoves have been specifically designed to burn a dry granular fuel, such as shelled corn. Corn burning stoves usually have a combustion air fan and a fuel stoker, both of which are not common in standard wood stove construction.
 

You can see from this table that shelled corn has heat energy close to that of wood.