Sunday, October 28, 2007

Aspects of the Ethanol Industry

In order to effectively communicate the information regarding ethanol as a fuel or even more broadly, biofuels, there are some basic considerations that are necessary. When researching this topic, always keep in mind that the audience will always react to information in a “so what? How does this affect my life” way; the great thing about covering a biofuel is that this question is self-evident. Everyone wants better, cheaper ways to power their cars.

One important facet of the ethanol fuel industry is to find out who supports and who criticizes the use of the fuel. A major consequence of doing this is also finding out what the advantages and disadvantages are of the fuel (such as those described in earlier blogs), and in which direction the movement of production is heading. For example, Iowa has become America’s leading state in the production of corn-based ethanol, and is benefiting from subsidies encouraged by Barack Obama (“$250,000 limit on subsidy payments to farmers” source) as well as federal government subsidy of $3 billion per year for the whole ethanol industry. On the flip side however, there is much criticism that a corn-based ethanol industry would consequently take away potential food from developing countries. Friends of the Earth say that by growing corn for the use of fuel decreases the physical amount of food available to be used as food-this will in effect starve already starving countries. The International Water Management Institute (IWMI) says that the domestic production of corn will strain water supplies in countries that already have water-shortage problems i.e. India and China.

The IWMI organization is comprised of 100 scientists from 16 countries who research issues relating to water use around the world. They speculated that 3,500 liters of irrigation water alone will be needed to produce 1 liter of ethanol from sugar cane in India. The Friends of the Earth group points to the riots in Mexico regarding corn flour imports from the U.S.; they say that as more farm land was used for biofuel production, less corn was exported to Mexico.

Another significant aspect to take into account is how local, national and international economies will be affected by the surge of a new industry. The advent of the industry will bring more jobs to local rural communities as demand grows; a plant that produces about 40 million gallons of ethanol will have an output of $140 million to the local economy.

In the short-term, this boom of corn-based ethanol is projected to be one of the causes of higher food/agricultural product prices in the nation. Iowa is a model of how corn-ethanol affects the state-level economy. Iowa produces about 33% (one third) of the nation’s ethanol, there have been more jobs created by the arrival of rural ethanol plants, and many hope for energy independence. However, there is are several very real daunting questions: what will happen to these now booming communities when the corn-ethanol fad dies down, will the local infrastructure be able to absorb this new industry, and what will happen to them if and when “second-generation” biofuels (i.e. cellulosic ethanol) become prominent? Cellulosic ethanol is a far better alternative to corn-ethanol, which means it could easily replace the corn industry that is currently being established throughout the Midwest.

Other countries, such as Brazil, are in favor of the ethanol industry because they believe it will help them achieve economic independence from oil-bearing countries. The President of Brazil, President Luiz Ignacio Lula da Silva, is currently trying to encourage African countries to adopt this new technology as a way of economic independence; they can economically develop in the same manner and at the same time help the global environment.

Thursday, October 11, 2007

Concerns of Cellulosic Ethanol

In contrast to the many disadvantages of corn-based ethanol, cellulosic ethanol has fewer, less malignant concerns. This is also because research into the biofuel is relatively young, and all the aspects of cellulosic ethanol has yet to be understood. As of now however, this alternative is a much better option than corn ethanol though there are several important drawbacks to cellulosic ethanol.

The primary issue with furthering research and development of this fuel is the high cost of using enzymes to digest the cellulose and hemicellulose to get them into the polysaccharide forms so they can then be fermented into ethanol. There is currently research going on that would use a synthesized bacterium to digest the polymers more efficiently; however this is still work in progress.
Another problem with pursuing cellulosic ethanol is the immense infrastructure needed for its production. Since it is a multistep procedure, involving a pre-treatment bath and acidic/enzymatic digestion, sufficient treatment and production facilities need to be built, as well as specialized transportation pipes and pumps.

In comparison with gasoline, cellulosic ethanol yields only about 66% of that energy; this means that 117 gallons of ethanol is needed for just 77 gallons of gas. However, whereas corn ethanol has an energy-cost benefit of 26% (more energy output than input; this is debatable, as said in previous section), cellulosic ethanol yields 80% more energy than was put in. Also, cellulosic ethanol would reduce greenhouse-gas emissions by 80% (some sources say CO2 emission could even be neutral) compared to that of gasoline.

Sunday, September 30, 2007

Disadvantages of corn-based ethanol

Ethanol fuel seems like an environmental panacea during a time of rising concerns about green-house gases and the harmful affects of oil and gasoline on our world. However, there is much discussion going on about the true environmental, not to mention economic, benefits of using ethanol to replace gasoline. Even though there are definitely less harmful gas emissions when using ethanol fuel, this does not encompass every energy-related aspect of the alternative fuel.

A major problem that has been repeatedly argued is the energy cost of producing corn ethanol. In order to understand the full scope of using the fuel, we must take into account all aspects of corn ethanol, which includes every step in the production process. Fossil fuels are used in the production of the fertilizers and pesticides required for crop-growing, the tractors and other machinery to grow and maintain the corn crop run on diesel, and coal and natural gas are used in the final distillation processes. According to some scientists, the energy used just in the production of corn ethanol is about 75% of the energy yield from the fuel. Besides just the production vs. yield energy problem, environmentally, some argue that green-house gas emissions are decreased by only 13% (compared to gasoline fuel) after taking into account all the fuel burned in production. David Pimental of Cornell University says differently however. He found that the production energy of ethanol is actually greater than what is obtained from it: about 70% more input energy is required for ethanol.

Besides the energy cost of ethanol, the practicality of the resource is under question. The physical ability of growing corn is a central issue; whether or not there is enough physical room to sustain a fuel economy based on corn ethanol. According to Pimental, you would need 11 acres of land (for corn) to sustain 1 American car for 1 year. Another scientist, Professor Tad Patzek of UC Berkeley puts this another way, “in Brazil alone you [would] annually damage a jungle the size of Greece.” (quote)

Another disadvantage highlighted by opponents is the economic aspect of using the fuel. According to Pimental, the effective cost of ethanol fuel is $1.74 whereas the cost of gasoline is only $0.95. In 2006, the cost of E85 (an 85%: 15% mix of ethanol: gasoline) car fuel was $2.19 compared to the E10 cost of $2.06. This doesn’t translate well for consumers since a car requires about 1.4 times as much E85 as regular gasoline.

Sunday, September 23, 2007

Ethanol as a fuel

Recently, the issue of alternative fuel sources has come to a forefront. This is especially true when considering fueling our cars, particularly in the face of fluctuating gas prices (in some places it neared $4/gallon!). The potential use of ethanol-based fuel instead of the conventional gasoline fuel for cars is increasingly becoming a popular option among Americans.

The interest in ethanol comes from the growing awareness that we, as consumers, are too heavily dependent on foreign oil reserves. That coupled with a growing concern for the environment has brought ethanol fuel to everyone’s attention. Ethanol is an attractive solution because it decreases greenhouse gas emissions, allows fuel to burn more completely thereby decreasing harmful residual gasoline waste, and is an abundant and renewable source.

Ethanol can be derived from high starch-concentrated foods, such as corn kernels. By fermenting the simple sugars obtained from the kernels, ethanol can be acquired. Cellulosic ethanol is derived from biomass such as waste, wood and paper pulp. The end product of cellulosic and corn-based ethanol is identical (EtOH), but the processes differ greatly. Cellulosic ethanol is obtained from the breakdown of complex carbohydrates which are then fermented into ethanol. The difference between the two concerns the energy input: output ratio of production process: corn ethanol yields only 26% more energy whereas cellulosic ethanol yields almost 80% more.

These are some sites to give you more information on the use of ethanol:

http://grist.org/news/maindish/2006/12/04/biofuels/

http://www.ucsusa.org/clean_vehicles/fuel_economy/ethanol-frequently-asked-questions.html

http://www.gate2biotech.com/green-ethanol-provides-environmental/