Ethanol : A Renewable Resource

Corn is a versatile crop, and that is why we grow so much of it. However, many people believe that corn should be used as a system and not as American agriculture. Due to this, people think this is the problem with food prices increase and causing hardship problems. I’m here to tell you the facts about corn ethanol is far more greater in negativity and that corn ethanol is being put into bad use.

California laws have very high support for advanced biofuel development. The California Legislature urges the U.S. Congress and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to take action to amend the U.S. Renewable Fuel Standard to favor non-food crop biofuel. As a result, this would promote the development of advanced fuels by simply using grasses, wood, algae and other plants to make cellulosic ethanol. Because cellulose makes up nearly half of all plant biomass, cellulosic ethanol is considered the largest potential source of biofuel in the near future. This would eliminate the need to rely on other countries for fuel when the U.S. can establish their own industry. The positive externalities would be more jobs and less pollution in America. However, the process of converting plant-life into ethanol is much more difficult that it is for starch to become ethanol. Consumers may yet face exceedingly high prices for cellulosic ethanol from within U.S. borders.

Cellulosic ethanol is a biofuel produced from the waste of corn, and its potential for minimalizing pollution is huge. The first company to find the breakthrough, DSM, gained recognition, but was met with obstacles in the production of this biofuel in the form of rocks, which contaminated the corn waste and clogged the machinery. However, DSM soon overcame this obstacle and now produces truckloads of cellulosic ethanol every week. This environmentally friendly biofuel is everywhere, ranging from animal feed to solar panels. DSM is aimed towards “improving the planet and the lives of people on it”. Feike Sijbesma, the CEO of DSM, states that the company values “People. Planet. Profit” and is geared towards addressing malnutrition and climate

In the New York Times article, “As Ethanol Booms, Critics warn of Environmental Effect”, Erica Gies writes about the many misconceptions of how ethanol is impacting everyday lives. She narrates the drawbacks of producing ethanol and how it was suppose to reduce emissions, but this is questionable due to the lengthy process and number of refineries and resources needed. Then she goes into further details about the local effects in our nation’s increased food prices, water pollution and consumption. By writing this article in the New York Times Gies’s primary audience will be those subscribed to New York Times, or follow this newspaper regularly. The secondary audience will be anyone caught in conversation by someone who has read the article and that maybe directly or indirectly related to ethanol issues.

Ethanol (CH3CH2OH) is a clear, colorless liquid. It is also known as ethyl alcohol, EtOH, and grain alcohol. Ethanol is widely produced by processing grains such as corn or starch and sugar crops. The grain is first milled, then fermented with yeast and different enzymes to turn the grain 's starches into alcohol(EPA). A distillation process then increases the ethanol concentrations, basically the same process a whiskey maker would use to make whiskey. Of course, law mandates that a denaturant is added, making the liquid unsafe for drinking. In the process, waste grain is produced and sold as farm animal feed. Bioethanol, can be made from many types of trees and grasses, but the procedure is much harder. The chemical formula of ethanol is the same whether it is made from starch and sugar-based feedstocks, such as corn grain (widely used in United States), sugar cane (Brazil), or from cellulosic feedstocks (such as wood chips or crop residues). (The Alternative Fuels Data Center)

Technological advancements and knowledge gained from the study of material science has provided endless opportunities for humans to progress and thrive. Minerals mined from the earth to create new materials have simplified many aspects of life for humans. One example of how material science simplified and improved life for humans is the discovery of steel. Steel made hunting and gathering significantly easier. New uses of earth’s natural resources increases as knowledge is gained and technology advances.

The ethanol production process starts with growing corn, on average an acre of corn yields close to 7,110 pounds of corn that require 140 gallons of fossil fuels to grow through the use of liquid fertilizer and powering machinery (Ethanol Fuel from Corn par. 4). The corn is harvested and transported to an ethanol refinery where it is ground, then water is added to create a mash in which enzymes break down the corn into sugar, afterward the sugar is mixed with yeast and fermented to produce ethanol (Ethanol Fuel: is ethanol par. 9-10). During the process of growing and processing the corn needed to manufacture one gallon of ethanol, it requires 131,000 British Thermal Units (BTU) to generate a gallon of ethanol while a gallon of ethanol produces only 77,000 BTU (Ethanol Fuel from Corn par. 5). The net ratio of energy for ethanol production is undesirable because ethanol has barely over half of the total energy needed to produce ethanol. Other materials can produce ethanol, such as switch grass or wood biomass, however, their energy returns are just as atrocious, needing forty-five percent and fifty-seven percent more energy to produce ethanol than it provides, respectively (Lang par. 5). This net

That fuel source is called corn-ethanol, and a majority of people can see the main ingredient, which is, corn in America 's farm fields. Corn is grown annually and it does not take millions of years to reproduce. Oil is a fuel source that takes millions of years to reproduce. A biofuel is the process of taking any once living plant and abstracting the plant 's energy to make a fuel. People in America are supporting Biofuels, including corn-ethanol because it does not require oil. It also reduces green house gasses, which makes it better for the environment (Cassman 59). The common view of ethanol is that it is just a research project to make the environmentalists happy but that is not true. It has the potential to keep America 's economy rolling, supply a fuel source, and still feed livestock with its byproducts. The key to success as a country is to use what we already have an abundance of in this country. The evidence is all there for this argument many Americans just need to become educated about this topic. The main

Ethanol is the fuel of the future. Really? How so? Ethanol will solve the energy crisis. That sounds a little far fetched. Ethanol stimulates time travel. Alright, that’s just a flat-out lie. It seems that these days everybody and their brother thinks that ethanol is the magic key to the future of powering automobiles and solving the problem of dependence on foreign oil. Well, that is not the case. Ethanol is not the energy source of the future; in fact ethanol only creates more energy problems.

In the eleven years since the Renewable Fuel Standard was signed in to law, US Corn production has shifted from feeding faces to fuel tanks, stirring a controversy over corns purpose. In 2007, the food or fuel controversy landed on the floor of the United Nations when Jean Ziegler, former UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food, stated that diverting cropland from food to fuel is a crime against humanity (Ferrett). The Renewable Fuel Standard, signed in to law in 2005, is a mandate that requires renewable fuels, such as corn based ethanol, be blended into transportation fuel (“Renewable…”). Ethanol is grain alcohol that can be fermented from many sources, most commonly corn and sugar cane, that is then blended with gasoline (“Ethanol…”). Today, roughly forty percent corn grown in the US is used to produce ethanol, accounting for the crops single largest use. Expansion of ethanol production in the United States has been intended to lower emissions, and increase energy independence; however, this well intentioned program could be having a detrimental effect on developing nations by increasing the cost of and decreasing the supply of corn.

For over forty years now, scientists and researchers have been tirelessly searching for an alternative to fossil fuels. Biofuels have become an interesting contender in the search for the replacement of the non-renewable energy source. Biofuels have been used throughout history for over thousands of years. There is a large debate over biofuels and its true impact on the environment. Those involved in the discussion debating whether biofuels have any real overwhelming benefits compared to fossil fuels could argue for its usage. According to recent research performed by the University of Michigan, biofuels may not be the best alternative for fossil fuels. Regardless of its impact on the environment, biofuels are becoming more popular particularly when the price of oil rises.

POET LLC is one of the leading fuel ethanol producers in the United States, operating twenty-seven corn to ethanol plants and one of only three corn stover to ethanol plants in the United States. The success of the company has come from capitalizing on government policy. This policy under the EPA’s renewable fuel standard provides incentives in the market place. Due to this incentive along with process innovation POET has grown into an industry leader. The company has a wide range of intellectual property and is constantly pushing its employees to come up with new ideas and processes. As an Associate Research Scientist, I am able to collaborate on new ideas first hand. I see many new ideas come through the pipeline every day. Once an idea is developed it is subjected to scrutiny, it must survive benchtop experiments, economic modeling, and ultimately a run through at a research plant. Ultimately then trials are done at one of the twenty-six plants that POET manages. This whole process can be stopped at any time if an experiment fails, the economics do not make sense, or if managers decide other ideas get priority of resources.

Well we all know that the energy system is very unstable because the total energy available on the earth is limited, and man has exploited all the conventional technologies to fulfill his needs. By the use of these conventional technologies, the world also has a disability, with problems such as global warming. Consumption of energy by man increased gradually as his wants also increase. The conventional energy resources mainly include fossil fuels, but research shows that this fuel source will be depleted completely in approximately 20-25 years. This could cause major setbacks around the world. As a result, we need an alternative source of fuel that could keep the world running on its wheel. One possibility is ethanol. Chemically extract

i. Ethanol is considered as a alternative fuel at a lower cost level in relation to gasoline. It is produced by fermenting sugars from a range of feedstock such as wheat and corn. Ethanol is blended with gasoline from E10 (5% ethanol - 95% gasoline) to E85 (85% ethanol - 15% gasoline).

What environmental benefits do we receive form an influx in ethanol as an alternative fuel? First let’s look