Ethanol Plant "Brews" Grass Into Gas(Great News!)

National Geographic News ^ | May 16, 2006 | Taylor Kennedy

[kellynla]

A Canadian company has developed a new, more efficient process to make the alternative fuel ethanol from farm waste.

With today's high oil prices, experts hope the new technology could reduce demand on fossil fuels and increase energy security.

"In the past, ethanol fuel use has been limited, because the cost of production was too high," said Jim Easterly, a Washington, D.C.-based bioenergy consultant.

"Ethanol produced from corn kernels and wheat grain has historically been more expensive than gasoline produced from oil."

Producing corn-based ethanol, for example, uses energy from oil and electricity for everything from growing the corn to powering the boilers in the ethanol plant.

Often the amount of ethanol created is equal to or less than the amount of fossil fuels needed to run the facility.

[kellynla]

Hosein Shapouri of the U.S. Department of Agriculture says that such factories wouldn't need energy from fossil fuels to run the plant.

"[They] can even produce extra electricity that can be sent to the public power grid," Shapouri said. "These plants will be self-sufficient."

[CardCarryingMember.VastRightWC]

These plants will be self-sufficient.

The corn plants?

:-)

[Mike Darancette]

Dude, Grass?

[spinestein]

They did a 5 minute "in depth" story on Iogen (Carl Sagan would have pronounced it "ee-o-jen") this morning on NPR.

In spite of NPR's fawning over them, I'm still very impressed with their results and can't wait to see this type of technology really used on a large scale. Farming fast growing plants like grass and fermenting it into alcohol to be burned for energy for human use is how solar power SHOULD be done and I hope Iogen reaps the rewards for the decades of research they've done, particularly on the enzymes used to break down the cellulose before fermentation.

[EEDUDE]

"Dude, Grass?"

LOL! Sorry man you're going to have to be a juicer again.

[Alas Babylon!]

Geesh, if they just smoked it they could take a trip and never even leave the farm. Save a lot on gas that way!

[kellynla]

well anything that can get us off the foreign oil addiction,
I am for!

[EEDUDE]

I've been following this research for some time.

They are using the enzymes produced by bacteria in the stomachs of termites.

If it works out this will be an answer to a prayer.

Maybe we can tell the Arabs to go p!ss up a rope.

[org.whodat]

Dude, Grass?

Didn't read the article did you, they are talking about grass as in animal feed, actually the most efficient type of grass to use is saw grass, not hemp.

[SierraWasp]

I wish they'd take all the "dude grass" and brew it into gas so's all these impulsive/compulsive "medical marijuana" knot heads that are movin into my community, bringin in the Hells Angels, etc. would be phased right outa business!!! Phoey on 'em!!! And the mob-ocracy initiatives they rode in on!!!

[SierraWasp]

ANYTHING???

[pepsionice]

In the long run...it can't be corn as the top ingredient for Ethanol. It'll have to be sugar cane...and in this case...there will be limits where you can grow huge amounts of the stuff. It takes too much energy to convert corn...alot less for sugar cane.

[null and void]

Ass, gas, or grass.

Nobody rides for free...

[Mike Darancette]

Didn't read the article did you

Of course I read the article but it is more fun to respond to the stupid headlines.

[org.whodat]

Didn't read the article did you

Of course I read the article but it is more fun to respond to the stupid headlines.

So true, so true!

[Moonman62]

well anything that can get us off the foreign oil addiction,

Jimmy Carter couldn't have said it any better.

[kellynla]

"Jimmy Carter couldn't have said it any better."

You win my tagline award! LMAO

[RayChuang88]

Right now, the race is on to find ways to drastically increase the production of ethanol.

There are several companies looking at turning plant cellulose into ethanol, most already reaching the point of building a pilot plant to test scaling up the technology. Because plant cellulose is far more common than corn, wheat and sugar beet production combined, this could open the way to make ethanol on a scale that makes the Brazilian ethanol program seem like a minor event in comparison.

And this is only the beginning: the use of special oil-laden algae "fed" by smokestack emissions could make it possible grow enough algae to produce hundreds of millions of gallons of biologically-based diesel fuel/heating oil per year just in the USA alone by retrofitting current coal-fired and natural gas-fired powerplants, with the "waste" from the processing of the algae capable of being processed further into ethanol rather easily.

In short, technology outruns the naysayers again.

[SAJ]

Specifically, it will have to be either bagasse, the sugar cane waste left over from processing, or else high-cellulose grasses of whichever type grow fastest. Back to simple, independently duplicable chemistry everyone, please.

Ethanol can be a useful solution, but corn-based (indeed, any high-starch based) ethanol not only cannot be part of the solution, but will be, now and forevermore, only implemented by very high levels of taxpayer (NOT gov't!) subsidy, no matter how often ADM and that crowd say otherwise.

[gleeaikin]

"Special oil laden algae."

Can you give us some links on this whole algae business. I have a friend who is very enthusiastic as well. My biggest question is where will they grow this algae? Will it require the construction of vast water tanks, or the digging of multitudes of ponds?