Doherty.Geraci.Fall.2009.energywiki

=__Corn Based Ethanol__= Brendan Doherty Michael Geraci

One of our countries greatest dilemmas is the need for a more sustainable and cost effective means of producing an alternate form of energy. The driving force of this problem is that the global demand of energy is not being comfortable met with the resources we have at hand today. With the rising fuel costs and the political disputes of foreign oil, scientists and researchers have been developing new forms of energy production in the past few decades. One of the most popular and widely used alternate forms of fuel is corn based ethanol.

__**How does corn ethanol work?**__ Corn ethanol is ethanol produced from corn as a biomass through industrial fermentation, chemical processing and distillation. It is primarily used in the United States as an alternative to gasoline and petroleum (first-generation biofuel). Corn ethanol is the most common type of ethanol in the United States, but is considered less efficient than other types of ethanol (sugar cane, etc.) because only the grain is used and many petroleum-based products (fertilizer, pesticides, etc) are used in its production.

Ethanol production may occur through two corn processing methods: dry and wet corn milling; the main difference between the two is the initial treatment of grain. In dry milling operations, liquefied corn starch is produced by heating corn meal with water and enzymes. A second enzyme converts the liquefied starch to sugars, which are fermented by yeast into ethanol and carbon dioxide; CO2 released during fermentation can be captured and sold for use in carbonating beverages and in the manufacture of dry ice, but it is often released to the atmosphere, because carbon capture for food use requires specialized and expensive equipment. Wet milling operations separate the pericarp, germ (oil), and protein from the starch before it is fermented into ethanol.

__**CO2 Emmisions**__ One of the setbacks of ethanol production from corn is the CO2 that is released during it's production and combustion. Approximately 75% of ethanol production is performed with the dry corn milling process since this method is less expensive to perform. The problem with traditional grain based ethanol is that it uses fossil fuels to produce heat during the conversion process, generating a great deal of greenhouse gas emissions. Although this is somewhat of a setback, corn based ethanol still produces fewer greenhouse gas emissions than standard gasoline. As seen in the graph to the right, the current average of corn ethanol produces about 19% less greenhouse gas emissions that gasoline in the transportation industry.

__**Water Consumption**__ The production of corn based ethanol also uses a very large amount of water. To make one gallon of corn ethanol it requires approximately 1700 gallons of water during production process. Along with the great consumption of water in producing 1 gallon of corn based ethanol, in the production process there are also twelve gallons of sewage produced.

What are the best aspects of corn based ethanol? Most importantly, it is renewable. Unlike common fossil fuels, ethanol produced from corn can be grown and processed, not forcing us to be dependent on the petroleum produced by foreign and often enemy territories. Corn based ethanol production generates fewer emissions compared to standard gasoline. The actual burning of corn based ethanol produces lower smog amounts and has been improving the smog levels in many cities such as Los Angeles.
 * __Why use corn ethanol compared to everyday fossil fuels?__**

__**Corn based ethanol- Still food for thought?**__ Is corn based ethanol really our answer to today's energy crisis? We would be foolish to only shed light on the positive aspects and ignore the major negative setbacks in relying on corn ethanol. Although the product has many promising attributes, it's production creates questions about how much better it is compared to the retrieval of crude oil. In a recent study performed by a Cornell University agricultural scientist, it was discovered that it actually takes more energy to make ethanol from grain than the combustion of ethanol produces. Dr. Pimentel(shown on the right) stated, "...about 70% more energy is required to produce ethanol than the energy that actually is in ethanol. Every time you make ethanol, there is an energy loss of 54,000 B [|Check out a video about the harmful realities of corn ethanol] Corn ethanol may not be the number one choice of fuel for American drivers today because it is so new on the market. Approximately 2% of all gas stations from coast to coast sell this new fuel, and only certain manufacturers create a limited amount of models commonly known as flex fuel vehicles which are actually capable of burning corn ethanol in a high concentration. Some manufacturers such as GM, Ford, and Chrysler offer these types of vehicles which can burn fuels up to 85% ethanol. For a more practical reason, lets look at the dollars and cents of ethanol production. Ethanol from corn costs about $1.74 per gallon to produce, compared with about $.95 to produce a gallon of gasoline. Dr. Pimentel, out leading agricultural scientist, stated, "That helps explain why fossil fuels, not ethanol, are used to produce ethanol. U.S. drivers couldn't afford it either, if it weren't for government subsidies to artificially lower the price.
 * __Is it widely used?__**


 * __A problem solver or a problem maker?__**

As we already stated earlier, corn ethanol still produces a great deal of CO2 emissions that is released into the environment. It also takes more energy to produce ethanol than there actually is in the ethanol itself. Another big issue we must bring up is that of a geographical nature. Many times the growth of corn to be used in the ethanol production is overlooked. Corn production uses more insecticides, herbicides, and fertilizers than any other grown crop. The production of corn also causes an immense amount of soil erosion. Soil loss is 17 times greater than soil formation on land that produces corn and to replace 1 inch of eroded soil takes 500 years. Another problem that excessive ethanol production would create would be a general decrease in corn supplies for livestock and other common uses.



__**If corn ethanol was fully embraced**__ What would happen if America transitioned to primary use of corn ethanol in their automobiles? Would people still run their cars on straight gasoline? The average US automobile, traveling 10,000 miles a year on pure ethanol, would need about 852 gallons of the corn based fuel. This would take 11 acres to grow, based on net ethanol production. This is the same amount of crop land required to feed seven Americans. If all the automiles in the united states were fueled with 100 percent ethanol, a total of about 97 percent of U.S. land area would be needed to grow the corn feed stock. Corn would cover nearly the total land area of the United States. You can clearly see that it is impossible to be the primary source of fuel for today's society.

__**Will corn ever be #1?**__ As you can see through the examples in this wiki, there are more negative results than positive ones when corn ethanol is used. Some of these examples would include a high amount of CO2 emissions, expensive production process, and the inefficiency of ethanol usage. We feel that corn ethanol is a great start to using an alternate form of fuel compared to using straight gasoline in today's automobiles. It is a renewable resource that we can create in our own country. However, the energy it takes to produce one gallon of corn ethanol is not surpassed by the energy that is given off when one gallon of corn ethanol is burned in today's flex fuel models. In order for corn ethanol to be seriously considered as a reliable energy resource, scientists and researchers must find a more efficient and economical means by which to produce it. __**Works Cited:**__ www.news.cornell.edu www.treehugger.com www.usnews.com www.greeninc.blogs.nytimes.com www.pennlive.com