Re: ethanol use...

Posted by paul on March 14, 2005 at 16:56:14 from (66.60.197.183):

In Reply to: Re: ethanol use... posted by riverbend on March 14, 2005 at 15:21:55:

I do understand that. :)

Five years ago, they were getting 2.5 plus gallons of ethanol from a bushel of corn. I don"t know how much energy they used to distill it. And I don"t know the energy used to grow corn exactly.

Now in 2005, they get 2.7- 2.9 gallons of ethanol from a bushel of corn. They have refined their process & use less energy now per gallon than they did 5 years ago. As well, there is more notill corn, and yields have gone up, so it takes less fuel to make a bu of corn today than it did 5 years ago.

Put all together, any data from 2-3 years ago is already outdated. What I read these days is about the 1.6 btu produced for every 1 btu used in the manufature of corn. This is accounting for the feed produced, and the bubbly air made as well. Since they are sold, they have value, & should be accounted for somehow. Like you say, there seem to be several different ways of proving one"s point. :)

Five years from now, the equasion will be even better.

I don"t believe ethanol will ever replace our petrolium needs.

But, it can help. Just the anti-pollution effects of a 10% blend of it are worth looking at. I"m not sure it would be practical to convert all our cars to E85 machines & try to produce that much. But perhaps getting 10-15% of all road fuels to be ethanol would be about right? That amount would help air quality, would let us get more out of the crude we use (ethanol raises octane, allowing it to be mixed with lower grade gasoline....) and heck, decreasing our gasoline consumption by 10% would have to help with international affairs & production & enviornmental drilling issues....

Biodiesel is a little more exciting. I believe it takes less energy to produce, and packs more energy in a gallon. Oil seeds use no N fertlizer, so we don"t put as much petrolium into it"s production.

There is ethanol in straw & corn stalks as well, just very costly to try to pull it out. It will be interesting if a use for this biomass ever comes about.

Will be interesting.

If Minnesota can make the ethanol & biodiesel blends work out, everone else should. Winter is a tough time up here. :)

My fuel coop has discussed biodiesel several times. It will jell in winter moreso. Many farmers are ordering a barrel of bio & blending their own, using it already up to 5%. It is working, and it is available now. It offers some lubricating qualities that the low sulfur standards are removing, so might end up being a good mix.

Regurdless, petro-based liquid fuels will be our staple for mny years to come, I"m not figuring there will be any mad rush to a different fuel. Just pecking away at it, a few % here & there.

--->Paul

Follow Ups:

• Re: ethanol use... cdmn 17:11:41 03/16/05 (0)

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