dan586360 asked: Why use corn (grain based) Why are they using this when cellulosic
ethanol is way better? Corn returns %34 more energy then used to produce the
ethanol but cellulosic
ethanol about %500. And it won’t make food prices rise since it’s based on the non edible
parts of plants like switchgrass. Also has a much higher net
greenhouse gas reduction than grain based ethanol so why don’t they use that instead? Is it because they don’t have the technology to make it on a mass scale? What is it?
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Corn Grain,
Ethanol,
Greenhouse Gas Reduction,
Parts Of Plants
The process to make ethanol from cellulose requires the use of enzymes. The enzymes are very complicated materials and even though they are not consumed, they must be recovered and recycled, this step is very difficult. Read up on enzymes.
As for 500% more productive, not likely.
Midwestern congressmen get more votes if they increase the market for their farming constituents, no matter that they are increasing prices for everyone else.
The USDA and DOE are collaborating on some pilot projects with cellulosic ethanol production. The lobby for this is far weaker than the lobby for corn ethanol but you’re right that there are far better sources than corn for ethanol. Switchgrass is one, yielding 1500 gallons per acre, far better than the 360 gallons from corn 890 gallons from sugar cane. The new strains of algae that can directly produce ethanol without any processing will supposedly yield up to 6,000 gallons per acre. Switchgrass can grow on marginal land that the USDA currently pays farmers not to plant upon while any sunny space with room for a tank of algae could be used for ‘algaenol’. But politics may delay or prevent this from happening, politicians tend to avoid doing the sensible thing in favor of whatever benefits them personally.
More study may be needed since one study has shown ethanol adds ozone to the lower atmosphere which can be a problem. Engines would also need to be rebuilt to use ethanol instead of gas and to be able to start in cold temps. As a transition until we have electric cars with better batteries or super-capacitors, ethanol makes sense. But I expect it will be replaced within 10-15 years with all-electric cars.