Seeking newer ways of ethanol preparation

To realise the full potential of ethanol as a fuel and drastically reduce the use of natural gas for its production, experts are charting new methods to prepare ethanol.

The endless fields of corn in the Midwest can be distilled into endless gallons of ethanol, a clean-burning, high-octane fuel that could end any worldwide oil shortage and reduce emissions that cause global warming.

There is only one catch: Turning corn into ethanol takes energy. For every gallon that an ethanol manufacturing plant produces, it uses the equivalent of almost two-fifths of a gallon of fuel (usually natural gas), and that does not count the fuel needed to make fertilizer for the corn, run the farm machinery, or truck the ethanol to market.

The use of all that fossil fuel to make ethanol substantially reduces its value as an alternative source of energy. Ethanol production is expected to hit 5 billion gallons this year, equal to more than three percent of gasoline supplies, and more ethanol distilleries are being built. But if ethanol is to realize its potential, its proponents recognize that they will have to develop new ways to make it. “In this industry, you can’t take a parochial view of your business,” said William A Lee, general manager of Chippewa Valley Ethanol, in Benson, Minn., United States and former chairman of the Renewable Fuels Association, an ethanol trade group.

Help from the cow!

Some companies are building ethanol plants next to cattle feeding operations, so that corn can go through the ethanol distillery, and then residues from the operation