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.

[Wally_Kalbacken]

Think of how painful it must be for the termites when the enzymes are ripped from their stomachs! I can hear their tiny screams now...oh the Reticulitermes flavipes!

[Wally_Kalbacken]

Think of how painful it must be for the termites when the enzymes are ripped from their stomachs! I can hear their tiny screams now...oh the Reticulitermes flavipes!

[when the time is right]

Before they spend all this money on their first commercial plant...why don't they fly down to Brazil and see these plants operating all over the country. The farms have co-op type refineries that use the waste product to fuel them and sell their product on the open market. No government needed.

[SE Mom]

bookmark

[Mind-numbed Robot]

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.

What sweet irony that would be. Most of our energy problems are cause by the left trying to cripple the US through environmental regulations and prohibitions, and now by controling supply. For that to spur American ingenuity into making their oil weapon obsolete when be the best possible revenge.

[RayChuang88]

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?

You can read up the information on this web page:

GreenFuel Technologies

[JustDoItAlways]

This company, Iogen, has been pushing this technology for over 15 years, spent $200 million of other people's money and can't even get their demonstration plant working properly.

The key to this technology is breaking down cellulose into a product that can then be converted into ethanol via the normal process.

But Moma Nature has spent the last 200 million years experimenting with different ways to break down cellulose efficiently. She hasn't been successful yet. If she had been, we would not be building our homes, decks and fences with wood.

Termites (or more accurately, the bugs in their guts) seem to be most successful organism to date into breaking down wood (cellulose.) But is that process efficient enough to be scaled up to the industrial scale? Probably not.

[Campion]

But Moma Nature has spent the last 200 million years experimenting with different ways to break down cellulose efficiently. She hasn't been successful yet.

What do you think goes on in a cow's stomach?

Our "homes, decks, and fences" require constant maintenance, or they rot away or are eaten by termites or other bugs. Cellulose decomposes just as much as starch does. The only trick is to get the process to happen on schedule on an industrial scale.

[TKDietz]

"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."

In Brazil over 40% of their automotive fuel needs are satisfied with ethanol. They use sugar cane and in fact burn the stalks and other waste from the cane as fuel for distilling and take care of their electricity needs with ethanol powered generators. The ethanol plants there already sell electricity on the power grids and still make nice profits and supply billions of gallons of ethanol. Brazil no longer has to buy foreign oil. Corn is not nearly as good as sugar cane for producing ethanol, but actually from what I have read the crop that will produce the highest number of gallons of ethanol per acre is sugar beets. I'm not sure why those aren't used more. There has to be some reason. Maybe it's just lobbying from the corn belt. I don't know.

[knews_hound]

Homebrewers PING

I am seeing a lot of these stories lately, do any of you have experience with a still?

My brother and I are giving it some thought but it seems like an awful lot of work.

Thoughts, replies or smartass remarks?

On or off the Homebrewers Ping list, let me know.

Cheers,

knewshound

In Pakistan, the beating continues

[American_Centurion]

Why does everyone assume that ADM will hold onto corn based ehtanol production? If cellulose based proves to be more profitable they WILL move their production in that direction so that can make more money.

Granted right now they are raking it in hand over fist thanks to subsidies, but if/when this cheaper method starts jacking their market, ADM will WILL move toward that direction. I'm no fan of ADM but they will be a huge part of the ethanol movement in this country. At least until the price of oil drops back below $30 bbl. After that who knows whats gonna happen in the energy market?

[TKDietz]

"At least until the price of oil drops back below $30 bbl."

Will that ever happen again?

[Betis70]

Very interesting stuff. I need to read more about these types of things.

[all4one]

Ethanol Ping....

[webheart]

..."medical marijuana" knot heads that are movin into my community, bringin in the Hells Angels...

I got news for you, Bud, it isn't the medical marijuana that brings them to your community, its the relative scarcity of law enforcement personnel. They are always looking for out of the way places to vent the fumes from the meth labs, and to avoid the attention that the smell attracts.

[Horatio Gates]

I think I saw a still a few times...on MASH and the Beverly Hillbillys

[knews_hound]

Rolls eyes.....

[Horatio Gates]

lol...well you did ask for smartass remarks 8>)

[5Madman2]

No experience with a still-too technical.

I have made Applejack, brew some hard apple cider, freeze it, then strain the liquid off. Just about as strong as the hard stuff, without the hassle

I'm a lazy drinker

[knews_hound]

True.

I did ask for it didn't I ?