Entries from October 2007 ↓

Although homemade ethanol can certainly be a dangerous thing, it can also be a rather intriguing thing, and so in order to be able to understand everything about homemade ethanol in general, one must learn about how to make it, what is involved in the process, and more, as well as what the dangers are of homemade ethanol; only when all of these matters are discussed can a proper viewpoint be taken on the subject matter.

About Homemade Ethanol

In regards to the matter of homemade ethanol, basically there are several facts that should be taken into consideration, such as: the level of interest in using alcohol as motor fuel has followed cycles of fuel shortages and/or low feed-grain prices; alcohols burn more completely, thus increasing combustion efficiency; and that there are many disadvantages to using alcohols, particularly methyl and ethyl alcohol.

As well, ethanol, which is grain alcohol, can be made out of straw; and in fact the ability to make ethanol from straw – rice straw, wheat straw, oat straw, etc.- is truly the modern day equivalent of the Holy Grail or the Philosopher’s Stone, as in a time when barely any new oil fields have been discovered in the past ten years, and a war in Iraq rages with such madness that it seems unlikely that anyone will be able to pump oil for the next several years.

As well, intensive research on cellulose conversion to ethanol previously focused on that of mechanical, heat and acid hydrolysis techniques, all of which are expensive, and as well, it should be known however that cellulose ethanol truly has two unique advantages over conventional alcohol.

The first is that the greenhouse gas emission reductions from cellulose ethanol are three times greater than those from grain based ethanol on a life cycle basis, and second, cellulose ethanol is made from a plentiful and renewable resource, which is the non-food portion of agriculture crops.

The ethanol industry in general is truly growing at an incredible pace, and in fact, production was up nearly 23 percent compared to just last June when 180,000 b/d of ethanol was produced; the ethanol industry is also expected to produce more than 3.3 billion gallons in 2004, up from 2.81 gallons in 2003.

Overall it is quite easy to see that there is much to know about ethanol in general, and also that in order to be able to have a proper viewpoint on it altogether, we need to try and understand as much about it in general as we can.

Share This

There is a lot that surrounds the issue of home ethanol production, and truly each and every one of these matters should be fully recognized and understood, in order for us to get a better grasp on the issue of ethanol altogether. For instance, with the matter of home ethanol production, there are so many things that need to be taken into consideration, and this is what will be discussed here.

About Home Ethanol Production

Home ethanol production is considered as being a major deal, and in regards to the matter of home ethanol production, there are some facts in particular that should really be known about, including: an acre of US corn yields about 7,110 pounds of corn for processing into 328 gallons of ethanol; the energy economics get worse at the processing plants, where the grain is crushed and fermented, and as well, as many as three distillation steps are needed in order to separate the 8% ethanol from the 92% water.

As well, adding up the energy costs of corn production and its following conversion to ethanol, it has been found that 131,000 BTUs are needed in order to be able to make only 1 gallon of ethanol; one gallon of ethanol only has an energy value of 77,000 BTU, which is considered as being certainly not good.

Furthermore, ethanol corn costs about $1.74 per gallon to produce, compared with about the 95 cents that it takes in order to be able to produce a gallon of gasoline; most economic analyses of corn-to-ethanol production truly overlook that of the costs of environmental damages, and corn production in the US alone erodes soil about 12 times faster than the soil can be reformed, and irrigating corn mines groundwater 25 percent faster than the natural recharge rate of ground water.

Therefore, there are so many questions in regards to the environment and in regards to life in general, as to whether or not ethanol is the proper choice; there are truly so many positive factors that stem from it, and yet many negative ones as well, and so this is a matter which is most certainly going to take some serious time and consideration to properly figure out.

However, there are some of the most brilliant people in the world who are looking closely into this situation right now, and so we can rest assured in knowing that the issue will be taken care of properly.

Share This

When we consider the future in general, we must realize that there is a significant correlation between the future and ethanol, and so this is one matter that we must take incredibly seriously into consideration. The reason that there is a relationship between the matters of the future and ethanol is primarily due to the fact that ethanol is considered as being our next readily supply of fuel.

The Future and Ethanol

Ethanol is a chemical which is considered as having a number of different and all just as important factors, and it is also considered as having numerous different benefits. It is considered as being better than even biodiesel, and so basically it is the top choice in regards to an answer as to what we will be using in the future as our main source of fuel.

Although the actual future and ethanol are not completely coordinated side by side yet, it is considered as being almost positively true that ethanol is going to become huge, and that we are all not going to be able to go a day without hearing the word at least once.

As well, in regards to the future and ethanol, it should be known to all that about 10% of the gasoline that is sold in the US is actually a blend of up to 10% ethanol, which is an alcohol that is made by distilling corn, wheat, and sometimes sugar.

One of the problems with ethanol however is the fact that the straw and the stalks that are left after the distillation process get burned by farmers, and if you have ever smelled a sugar cane field that is burning after harvest, then you know that it smells incredibly bad, and you should know that not only does it smell bad, but it is completely unhealthy for you as well.

As well, something that people for the most part seem not to understand or are just ignoring, is the fact that the stalks, once they are squeezed out of all their sugar, are not totally useless as some would say, but rather they can be used for further things.

Basically the most important thing is that everyone learns as much about ethanol as they can before it is too late, so that we can all gain a proper and full understanding on what it is before we are mindlessly using it for various different things.

Share This