Ethanol can be distilled from corn, sugarcane or even straw and other cellulosic plant materials such as wood chips or grasses. Biodiesel is produced from vegetable oil crops such as palm, soybeans or rapeseed, or animal fats and leftover restaurant grease.

High oil prices, technological advances, concerns about energy security and the environment, and efforts to revitalize rural economies have all intersected to drive the biofuels boom. Ethanol has been used as a gasoline additive or stand-alone fuel in the United States and Brazil since the 1970s, but in recent years there has been an explosion of interest, resulting in substantial investment and steeply increased production.

Biodiesel is relatively new in the U.S., but has attracted strong interest and investment as well. There are 113 ethanol plants producing today in the U.S., with a capacity of 5.6 billion gallons per year or 365,000 barrels per day (bd).

Another 84 ethanol plants are either under construction or expanding, which could add another 6.1 billion gallons of annual production capacity (400,000 bd) in the next few years. A barrel of ethanol contains 3.54 million British Thermal Units (BTUs) of energy, while a barrel of gasoline contains 5.25 million BTUs. This means that a gallon of ethanol only provides about 70 percent of the energy that one gets from a gallon of gasoline. A state-of-the-art ethanol plant today can convert a bushel of corn into about 2.8 gallons of fuel ethanol. Two decades ago, this figure was closer to 2 gallons.

n the United States, blenders of ethanol receive a 51 cent-per gallon tax credit for every gallon of ethanol used in gasoline; for biodiesel, the equivalent credit is .00 per gallon. In 1980, the U.S. consumed a grand total of 11,000 barrels of ethanol per day. By early 2007, that demand had reached about 400,000 barrels per day, or over four percent of the total gasoline market by volume.

Current federal legislation requires 7.5 billion gallons (490,000 bd) of biofuel use by 2012. The Bush administration recently proposed a target of 35 billion gallons (2.3 million bd) of renewable and alternative fuels by 2017-a goal that would likely require major advances in cellulosic ethanol technology.

In 2006, the ethanol sector consumed nearly 2.2 billion bushels of corn-about 20 percent of the total U.S. harvest of 10.7 billion bushels. Ethanol can be produced from non-food crops, such as switchgrass and straw. But this approach can’t yet compete in the marketplace. There is currently intense interest in making this process-”cellulosic ethanol”-commercially viable.

The US biodiesel industry is much smaller than the ethanol industry. Current annual production is estimated at 250 million gallons (16,000 bd), although it is growing quickly. Europe is currently the world leader in biodiesel production and use. Annual production is currently over 1.5 billion gallons (100,000 bd) with substantial new capacity under construction.

The Original Post is Located Here: Biofuels In The U.S – Just The Facts

Ethanol can be distilled from corn, sugarcane or even straw and other cellulosic plant materials such as wood chips or grasses. Biodiesel is produced from vegetable oil crops such as palm, soybeans or rapeseed, or animal fats and leftover restaurant grease.

High oil prices, technological advances, concerns about energy security and the environment, and efforts to revitalize rural economies have all intersected to drive the biofuels boom. Ethanol has been used as a gasoline additive or stand-alone fuel in the United States and Brazil since the 1970s, but in recent years there has been an explosion of interest, resulting in substantial investment and steeply increased production.

Biodiesel is relatively new in the U.S., but has attracted strong interest and investment as well. There are 113 ethanol plants producing today in the U.S., with a capacity of 5.6 billion gallons per year or 365,000 barrels per day (bd).

Another 84 ethanol plants are either under construction or expanding, which could add another 6.1 billion gallons of annual production capacity (400,000 bd) in the next few years. A barrel of ethanol contains 3.54 million British Thermal Units (BTUs) of energy, while a barrel of gasoline contains 5.25 million BTUs. This means that a gallon of ethanol only provides about 70 percent of the energy that one gets from a gallon of gasoline. A state-of-the-art ethanol plant today can convert a bushel of corn into about 2.8 gallons of fuel ethanol. Two decades ago, this figure was closer to 2 gallons.

In the United States, blenders of ethanol receive a 51 cent-per gallon tax credit for every gallon of ethanol used in gasoline; for biodiesel, the equivalent credit is $1.00 per gallon. In 1980, the U.S. consumed a grand total of 11,000 barrels of ethanol per day. By early 2007, that demand had reached about 400,000 barrels per day, or over four percent of the total gasoline market by volume.

Current federal legislation requires 7.5 billion gallons (490,000 bd) of biofuel use by 2012. The Bush administration recently proposed a target of 35 billion gallons (2.3 million bd) of renewable and alternative fuels by 2017-a goal that would likely require major advances in cellulosic ethanol technology.

In 2006, the ethanol sector consumed nearly 2.2 billion bushels of corn-about 20 percent of the total U.S. harvest of 10.7 billion bushels. Ethanol can be produced from non-food crops, such as switchgrass and straw. But this approach can’t yet compete in the marketplace. There is currently intense interest in making this process-”cellulosic ethanol”-commercially viable.

The US biodiesel industry is much smaller than the ethanol industry. Current annual production is estimated at 250 million gallons (16,000 bd), although it is growing quickly. Europe is currently the world leader in biodiesel production and use. Annual production is currently over 1.5 billion gallons (100,000 bd) with substantial new capacity under construction.

The Original Post is Located Here: Biofuels In The US – Just The Facts

Ethanol Produced from Corn

Ethanol, (also known as grain alcohol because it is made most often with corn) is probably the most well known alternative fuel in the world today as it has been around for many years.  Using ethanol as an alternative fuel is a great way to shave your gasoline costs and help the environment and our farmers too.

As everyone is no doubt aware, there is already a commercially available  alternative fuel ethanol product on the market called E85.  E85 is the term for blended fuels made up of 85 percent ethanol and 15 percent gasoline. E85 is an alternative fuel as defined by the U.S. Department of Energy. Besides its superior performance characteristics, ethanol burns cleaner than gasoline and is a completely renewable, domestic,  environmentally friendly fuel that helps the nation’s economy and energy independence.

Although Ethanol is generally made from corn in the United States, it can also be made from other organic materials including agricultural crops and waste, plant material left from logging, and trash including paper.

Brazil is easily the largest ethanol producer in the world and makes the majority of their ethanol from sugar cane. There are now several projects underway in California with the aim of converting some of the state’s agricultural waste, like rice straw (that is now burned in fields), into ethanol.  Ethanol, as an alternative fuel, has really come a long way from the early concepts.

In the past, most people believed that it took more energy to make ethanol, than it could give back and for the most part, this was true.  However, technologies have advanced in such a way that it is possible to dramatically increase the efficiency of producing ethanol.

Corn ethanol is made today by converting the starch in corn into sugars and then into alcohol through the process of fermentation. A Canadian company has invented a process for converting agricultural waste such as corn stalks, husks, etc. (corn “stover”) and other cellulose rich plant waste like straw into ethanol by using enzymes.

Using ethanol as an alternative fuel is only one part of the alternative fuel trend.  There are many other alternative fuels being developed in the “green” movement, but the reality is that ethanol, already exists as an alternative fuel that is commercially available.  It will be developed by leaps and bounds over the next few years and it could well become THE alternative fuel for the future.
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The Original Post is Located Here: Ethanol as an Alternative Fuel