Which Ethanol Is Better?

By:

Brian Barron

Mark Ryden

Ethanol

• A flammable, colorless chemical compound.

• Common in alcoholic beverages and thermometers.

• Also known as Ethyl Alcohol or Grain Alcohol

History of Ethanol

• Started being used in the U.S. as lamp fuel in 1840

• In 1908, Ford Model T’s could be run on ethanol

• When Prohibition started in 1920, ethanol fuel sellers were suspected of selling alcohol, so they stopped the production

• Ethanol was forgotten about until recently

Production of Ethanol

• Produced as a petrochemical, or a product made from raw materials of petroleum and hydrocarbon origin.

• Made through the hydration of ethylene

• The hydration of ethylene is written as:

• C2H4(g) + H2O(g) = CH3CH2OH(l)

• This process was first used for large-scale production by Shell Oil Company in 1947

Global Warming Theory

• It is highly possible that global warming is caused from the emission of CO2

• Cars with gasoline are one of the major contributors to CO2 emission.

Oil Dependency

• The U.S. is extremely dependent on other countries for oil to produce gasoline.

• About 40% of energy used in the U.S. comes from oil.

• The U.S. is 5% of the world’s population, but it uses 25% of the world’s oil

• We cannot control the prices, and oil is a non-renewable resource.

Problems From Oil

• Not only is global warming a problem from oil, but many conflicts have started between countries for oil.

• As the demand remains the same or increases and the supply decreases there could be more conflicts to come from oil.

Alternative Fuel

• Gasoline emits significantly more CO2 than ethanol.

• Also, gasoline is predicted to run out in the next 50 years.

• Ethanol could be an alternative to gasoline because it is much more efficient and it is renewable.

Production

• Since the need for an alternative fuel increases, the production of ethanol has gone up substantially in the past 30 years in the world.

U.S. Production

• The U.S. production of ethanol has increased greatly due to the rising gas prices, and is still increasing today

World Production

• The U.S. and Brazil are two of the major contributors of ethanol production in the world.

Types of Ethanol

• Two major types of ethanol:

• 1.) Corn Ethanol

• Corn ethanol is produced from corn

• 2.) Biomass Ethanol

• Biomass ethanol is produced from either waste paper or switchgrass

Corn Ethanol

• A type of bioethanol that is used as an alternative to gasoline.

• It is made the same way as alcohol, by the process of fermentation

• Corn ethanol delivers 25% more energy than it takes to produce.

Problems With Corn Ethanol• The process of

growing and making corn ethanol uses a lot of energy, so the profit is not great.

• Corn ethanol requires a lot of land to produce and there is not that much land available.

Land Restriction

• The Senate recently agreed to increase the amount of corn ethanol produced by 21 billion gallons by 2022.

• To produce this much ethanol, we would need to have 67,148 square miles.

• Illinois is 57,918 square miles so we would need to have an area bigger than Illinois to grow this ethanol.

A Better Solution

• Biomass Ethanol works the same way as corn ethanol, but it is made differently.

• It can be made from waste paper or switchgrass.

• Switchgrass is naturally grown around the U.S.

Switchgrass

• Tall grass that grows naturally in fields is usually switchgrass.

• Grows very easily and almost anywhere.

• It can be grown in a variation of climates, so almost all over the U.S. as well as the world.

Switchgrass• Switchgrass

delivers 540% more energy than it takes to produce.

• The U.S. Department of Energy is trying to incorporate Biomass ethanol into the plan for an alternative fuel source.

• They are funding the construction of six biorefineries that will cost 1.2 billion dollars.

Waste Paper

• Biomass ethanol could also be created from waste paper known as cellulosic ethanol.

• A company called BlueFire was able to harvest the methane from garbage dumps to produce cellulosic ethanol.

• Estimated that they could produce 40 billion gallons of cellulosic ethanol which could be 1/3 of all U.S. transportation needs.

Cellulosic Ethanol

• Corn ethanol requires a lot of energy to grow but cellulosic takes waste and converts it into energy.

• If done right, we could create energy and get rid of waste at the same time.

CO2 Emissions

Current Cars Running On Ethanol

• There are some cars on the market that run on E85 ethanol which is 85% ethanol and 15% gasoline.

• This emits 15%-20% less CO2 than just gasoline. • GM has started a program called flexfuel which

makes their cars able to run on E85 ethanol.• Some other companies with ethanol programs

and cars are Ford, Nissan, and Volvo.

In Conclusion

• The U.S. and the rest of the world needs to find an alternative fuel for gasoline.

• Corn ethanol and Biomass ethanol both emit less CO2 than gasoline.

• Corn Ethanol would take a lot more land, energy, and money to produce than Biomass ethanol.

• Biomass ethanol is produced from switchgrass or waste paper.

• We think that Biomass is the better choice for an alternative fuel.

The End