Renewable Sources of Energy

Generally ethanol is an alcohol found in alcoholic drinks. At 100% concentration, it is pure and a colourless liquid with a strong odour (due to weak Van der Wall forces :D. Ethanol is produced by the fermentation of carbohydrates in yeast cells and is used frequently as a solvent.

In the United States of America, corn ethanol is the main raw material we use to move our vehicles to accomplish our daily goals. Obviously, corn ethanol is presenting ethanol by corn. The biomass in the ethanol adds fermentation, a system that breaks down any chemicals or other substance in any liquid. Additionally, it is added distillation, the action of purifying the process of heating and cooling. This is how corn ethanol is made.

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.

In 2011, the United States consumed about 134 billion gallons1 (or 3.19 billion barrels2) of gasoline, a daily average of about 367.08 million gallons (8.74 million barrels). This was about 6% less than the record high of about 142.38 billion gallons (or 3.39 billion barrels) consumed in 2007,according to

In the United States, ethanol is primarily used as a blending element in the production of gas and as an alternative fuel. More than 95% of the gasoline sold in the United States contains ethanol. Most of ethanol blending into U.S. motor gasoline occurs to meet the requirements of the 1990 Clean Air Act (RFG Fuel) and the Renewable Fuel Standard set forth in the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007. (U.S Energy Information Administration)

The higher price of ethanol in many areas is made worse by ethanol’s second disadvantage that it, regardless of the price you pay for it, contains less fuel efficient energy than gasoline. In short, this means cars won’t travel as far on a tank of gas, and most cars fuel economy will decrease by 20-30 percent. This is very

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

In 2004 an article was published on the creation of ethanol from gases made from switchgrass. The article was titled, “Fermentation of Biomass-Generated Producer Gas to Ethanol.”

Biofuels are fuels made from biomass, which is the organic physical material of an organism that is or was alive. Biomasses can be separated into two categories - liquids and solids. Liquid biomass fuels include biodiesel and ethanol. Solids include charcoal, garbage, wood, and manure. The majority of organic matter contains carbon, oxygen, and hydrogen, the same elements that make up fossil fuels such as petroleum and coal. Biomass can be burned as is or converted into a different fuel that burns more efficiently. The use of biomass for fuel is not a new idea, as humans long ago used whatever could help them survive. Solid biofuels like wood, manure, and charcoal have been used ever since man discovered

Biofuels have been used as a source of energy for thousands of years. Wood was the first biofuel to be used as a means to create fires for cooking. Since that time we have discovered numerous ways to use them and the various forms of biofuels that are available for use. Presently our use of biofuels consists largely of additives to gasoline in the form of ethanol. Ethanol is found in almost all of our gasoline products today, in which about 10% is typically mixed as an additive. Some gas stations are now offering nearly pure ethanol fuel known as E85 which is 85% ethanol. This makes ethanol the most common biofuel used worldwide. In response to this, farmers around the world have increased biofuel plant production as a means to meet the new growing demand for it. As time goes on, more modern farming practices are expected to continue to increase the output at which farmers can grow corn and other ethanol producing plants thereby “fueling” the biofuel gas industry. With more resources available to use, ethanol will be an even cheaper additive than it is now.

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).

Biofuels. A fuel can be defined any such chemical that reacts with oxygen to release energy, in particular heat. Most of the fuels that are in used today are fossil fuels; coal, gas, and oil. They were produced by plants which photosynthesized millions of years ago, mostly in the Carboniferous period. ( ). These chemicals are also important raw material for chemicals such as dyestuffs and detergents. They are finite, which one day they will run out and not be replaced. An alternative is ethanol. By using ethanol, we become

Biofuel is a fuel that is made up of dead biological matter. This is how a biofuel is distinguished from a fossil fuel." In order to be considered as a biofuel, the fuel must contain over 80% renewable materials"(1). The organic matter (biomass) that makes up biofuel can be gotten from corn, soybeans or various other photosynthetic plants. The specific type of biofuel produced from grains is Ethanol, the other one who produced from mostly oil and fat is Biodiesel. Biomass is organic instruments made by plants and animals. It is contains stored energy from the sun. At the bottom of the food chain, plants merge with solar radiation through photosynthesis. They then change it into chemical energy in the form of glucose, or sugar.

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