What makes a good crop for ethanol?
547026
sugar cane is recognized as having the least trouble creating ethanol. In Brazil this works wonderfully. They have removed the need to import oil and are actually exporting ethanol. In the US sugar cane doesn't grow as well. sugar cane is best in tropical climates. \n\nIn the US corn is the most common for ethanol. It isn't the best crop but is efficient enough for now. Industry best(meaning in the lab) for producing ethanol is above 1 btu of fuel produces 2 btus of ethanol. \n\nFor non-tropical climates cellulose based ethanol is also making big waves. It's advantages are that every living plant tissue is at least 80% cellulose. Dead tissue like wood is around 30 to 40 percent cellulose. A farmer could sell the normal corn seed, and then bale the corn stalks, which are usually left on the ground, for ethanol. Another advantage is that on irrigated and fertilized lands you can grow better than 10 tons of cellulose per acre per season if grown for harvesting cellulose verus the 2.5 tons per acre of corn seed. critiria for a plant for this process is a plant that grows a lost of mass per acre. \n\nEthanol is meant to replace gasoline fuel not diesel fuel.\nDiesel engines don't have spark plugs, so they can't ignite high octane fuels like gasoline and ethanol. Instead they hammer-strike the better performing low octane deisel fuel. \n\nMost gas engines out there probably can be converted to work with ethanol. There are a number of conversion kits available. It is likely to work better however if they come from the factory. \n\nBio-deisel is wonderful for most diesel engines. I'm afraid I don't know a lot about that topic.
97680
Commodity Crops (corn, rice, etc.)\n\nGrain \n\nOil Seed Crops \n\nCitrus Fruits \n\nOrchard Fruit \n\nBerries  \n\nGarden Vegetables \n\nMelons, Squash and Cucumbers \n\nFlavorings, Herbs and Spices  \n\nNuts
1095014
ethanol is not cost effective. It takes more energy to produce a gallon of ethanol than can be created from it.  The only thing supporting it is the government giveaways--your tax dollars.  Another subsidy for the campaign contributors.  If it were not for stupid greedy politicians there would be none.
659987
Depending on how much ethanol spilled. Ethanol is the same alcohol that is in wine, beer and liquor. Spilling\na significant amount in water will make the occupants drunk.\nSpilling a really significant could make them dead.\n\nAs far as ethanol giving off less CO2 than burning gasoline - it may give less. However, there is a tremendous quantity of CO2 given off in the fermentation process. I am curious whether there is any real green-house gas advantage.
479028
ALL ESTIMATES ARE ROUGHLY\nOil\nSpent in USA\n$100-150 billion every year on crude oil\nUsed in USA\n60 billion gallons of petroleum diesel\n120 billion gallons of gasoline\n\nBiodiesel\n\nTo grow the "feedstocks"\n$80,000 per hectare for algal ponds\n3.85 million hectares of algae ponds would be need to replace all petroleum transportation fuels with biodiesel\n$308 Billion just to build the farms\n\nOperating cost\n$12,000 per hectare\n$46.2 billion per year to yield all the oil feedstock necessary for the entire country\n\nI will add more fuel later must go watch TV now\n***EDIT***\nOk I am back, it turn out that makeing ethanol and biodiesel are around the exact same cost.  But I doubt that they will ever be a realistic source of fuel.\n\n I found this and thought you might find it interesting\n""...but producing ethanol or biodiesel from plant biomass is going down the wrong road, because you use more energy to produce these fuels than you get out from the combustion of these products.""\n\nStudies done everywhere show that cost and disposal of the bi-products are going to be a problem, plus energy wise its just not worth it.  They are working on these problems trying to figure something out to make it more feasible.\n\nIn terms of energy output compared with energy input for ethanol production, the study found that: \n\ncorn requires 29 percent more fossil energy than the fuel produced; \nswitch grass requires 45 percent more fossil energy than the fuel produced; and \nwood biomass requires 57 percent more fossil energy than the fuel produced. \n\nIn terms of energy output compared with the energy input for biodiesel production, the study found that: \n\nsoybean plants requires 27 percent more fossil energy than the fuel produced, and \nsunflower plants requires 118 percent more fossil energy than the fuel produced.
492990
You could make ethanol from grass clippings, though as others have pointed out you are more likely to end up with methanol. Not that this is a major problem, methanol is a perfectly effective fuel in its own right.\n\n\nThe real problem is one of efficiency. Grass clippings are very dispersed, in the sense that you can't harvest hundreds of tonnes of them every hour as you can with maize or cane. Because of that any ethanol production will be small scale, which is inherently inefficient. You would almost certainly end up using more fuel in the process than you would actually produce.\n\nRemember even cane or maize ethanol production doesn't actually produce fuel. We currently use more fossil fuels producing ethanol then the ethanol actually replaces. Ethanol is an economic and political exercise, it has no environmental benefits.
643278
You mean Ethanol. In the upper mid-west of USA it is corn (cool climate). In tropical(hot) climates it is sugar. Both require much heat (energy) to reduce or change the product into ethanol.
495133
get the book "forget the gas pumps - make your own fuel" by jim wortham and barbara whitener. it explains very simply how to make ethanol from corn, but i believe the process would be the same.
507799
Good Project:\n\nThere have been different attempts all need to be developed yet.\n\nThe attempts include:\n1.Solar energy through silicon cells.\nThis is of more importance in hot regions with maximum sun shine.\n\n2.Ethanol by way of combustion.\nStill an economical method is to be discovered for extracting ethnol from sugarcane.\n\n3.Hydrogen by combustion.\nHydrogen is to be obtained by decomposition of water.\n\n4. Nuclear energy at small scale.\nSo far techniques on domastic production have not been successful.
238440
CORN & COCONUTS\n\nCorn oil: ETHANOL \nEthanol, a pure alcohol made primarily by the corn refining industry, is today's alternative fuel. Henry Ford first suggested running cars on ethanol from corn, but it took the oil shortages of the seventies and the environmental problems of the eighties to turn ethanol into an important component in the American fuel supply. Ethanol-blended fuels account for 12% of all automotive fuels sold in the U.S.\n\nEthanol is made by fermenting sugars produced from corn starch. Many corn refining factories produce both ethanol and other corn products like starches and sweeteners so that capital and manufacturing costs can be kept as low as possible. While they are making ethanol, corn refiners also produce valuable coproducts such as corn oil and corn gluten feed. \n\nEthanol plays three major roles in today's economy and environment. First, it replaces about $2 billion dollars of imported oil with a secure, domestic fuel. Second, it is an important component of gasoline reformulated to reduce pollution in cities which are not achieving air quality standards mandated by the Clean Air Act. And finally, it provides a major income boost to farmers and rural communities where most ethanol is manufactured. Ethanol, blended with gasoline at a 10% level or in the form of ethyl tertiary butyl ether (ETBE) made from ethanol, is effective in reducing carbon monixide levels, ozone pollution and greenhouse gas emissions from automobile exhaust.\n\nCOCONUTS: Coconut Crude | Ethan Zuckerman\nA Newly Electric Green – Sustainable Energy, Resources and Design see all posts in this category\nPrice of gasoline got you down? If you're driving a diesel vehicle in the South Pacific, you may be in luck. Vanuatan entrepreneur Tony Deamer has adapted his fleet of rental cars to run on coconut oil, a plentiful local commodity. Unlike with many biofuels, coconut oil doens't need to be transesterized - mixed with sodium hydroxide and alcohol to change its chemical composition - to run in a diesel engine. Filtered and warmed to temperatures about 25C, coconut oil is a better than satisfactory substitute for "mineral diesel" - it burns more slowly, which produces more even pressure on engine pistons, reducing engine wear, and lubricates the engine more effectively. Deamer runs most of his vehicles on a mixture of 85% coconut oil and 15% kerosene, but has demonstrated that modified diesel engines run filtered coconut oil quite happily.\n\nEven before recent price increases, diesel fuel was extremely expensive in the South Pacific due to the cost of shipping fuel from refineries. Coconut oil, on the other hand, is comparatively cheap - produced locally by boiling copra (dried coconut flesh) in water, it retails on the world market for $0.55 a liter, as compared to significantly higher prices for mineral diesel. Used as a basic ingredient in margarine and in cosmetics, copra prices tend to fluctuate widely, destabilizing economies like Vanuatu's which are heavily dependent on copra exports. An increased use of copra to produce fuel oils would likely raise copra prices and benefit local economies, as well as reducing the costs of imported fuels.\n\nSOPAC - the South Pacific Applied Geoscience Commission, based in Fiji, is funding projects to study the use of coconut oil for power generation and transportation - their introductory paper is a useful overview of efforts thus far to utilize this promising biofuel. UNDP's Equator Initiative also has an excellent case on "Coconut Crude", focusing in part on Tony Deamer's work.
723332
Here's an idea.....drill in Alaska!!!!!!!!!!!\n\nOr here's another one.....ALTERNATIVE FUELS!!!  Ethanol and hydrogen should be our focus.  A failing company like GM could really benefit from getting a head start on those technologies.
729082
An interesting site talking about ethanol:\n\nhttp://e85.whipnet.net/ethanol.faq/make.ethanol.html
1072850
Interesting...many studies have been conducted regarding Ethanol.  Keep in mind that ethanol is produced from corn.  If every single farm in America grew corn we'd be able to replace about 8% of our oil imports...not really enough to make a significant impact.  Also keep in mind that if for any reason the crop of corn was destroyed, be that storm or drout, we would have no product to convert into ethanol and no fuel.  Before you read on please keep in mind that I'm a registered independent...Under the Bush administration quite a bit of effort was put into the creation of a new agency within the DOE (Department of Energy) called the Energy Efficiency and Renewables Dept....within that department the Hydrogen Infrastructure and Technologies Program was established.  Why Hydrogen?  Because it can't be politicized, don't have to worry about drouts or damaged crops and hydrogen comprises 80+% of the mass in our universe (not something we're likely to run out of anytime soon).  http://www.hydrogen.energy.gov/   According to the "Posture Plan" our economy will be carbon free by 2060 with hydrogen as the likely successor.  Also check out Canada's FCC (Fuel Cell Canada) for their plan to globally commercialize fuel cells.\n\nOur current president has done great things when it come to decreasing our dependence on foreign oil.  Just gotta know where to look.  Try this        http://thomas.loc.gov/      and under "search bill text" type the word hydrogen and you'll see every piece of legislation dealing with hydrogen as an alternative fuel.
179183
How about a project about fuel ethanol.  Ethanol being used as a fuel is a hot topic right now.  With all the problems with oil, Bush has passed a lot of energy bills to support research on making ethanol. Its cheaper than regular gas and safer for the enviroment.  Good luck :)
628573
According to the USDA ethanol is a viable fuel. On average 67% more Btus of ethanol are produced than various fuels are consumed in the farming and manufacturing process. The oil companies disagree with this siting data from 1970s showing the farming of corn to use to much energy for ethanol to be viable. \n\nCellulose ethanol will be even better as you can harvest 10 tons of cellulose using less fuel than the fuel required to harvest 2.5 tons of corn. As technology gets better, these types of fuels will get even better. \n\nButanol would be an even better fuel than ethanol. A recent development research found a way to produce as much butanol per bushel of corn as you can produce ethanol. What is great about butanol is that it has 42% more BTUs per gallon than ethanol(just a little less than btus in gasoline). Butanol also isn't corrosive so it can be used in any current gas engine at 100% butanol. It is underdeveloperd however. Last year the creators were searching for funds to develope a pilot plant. It can currently be made with corn at 1.86 per gallon or from lactose (waste from cheese factories) at 85 cents a gallon. \n\nSolar power is a good power source, but small. A heat collecting panel 4 foot wide and long as a house can provide enough heat to replace the heater in winter almost all of the time. Solar panels for electricity are to weak to replace much. It takes better than a decade to pay for itself. Not good enough for most people.\n\nNuclear power is a over dramatized technology. It is safe. The last set of nuclear power plants won't explode by accident. Some of the new designs of nuclear plants might not explode if someone does try to destroy. The ironic thing here is if the public wouldn't have forced most research to go away, most of the problems associated with nuclear power probably would have been solved by now. \n\nWind, is the best developed electricity generator today. The technology is getting cheaper, but unfortunately is still more expensive than coal. In the future we may be seeing massive helium balloons that spin in the wind for the purpose of generating electricity. According to the company working on the design this will be far less expensive than current wind mills due to no costs associated with erecting towers. Rather the balloons only link to the ground is one long chain. \n\nthere are a lot of other stuff out there.
992516
A n energy related project:\n\n1.  Ethanol production, ferment and distill - very easy.  Ethanol is used in gasoline, made from fermented sugar or starch.  Combine sugar, water, and yeast, covered so no air gets in (a plastic bottle with a balloon over the neck).  Let ferment 3 -5 days, balloon will go up then down.  Then in a small pot, put in 3/4 inch of the liquid and a small glass in the middle.  Invert the pot cover and put ice and water in it.  Boil very slowly till about 1/4 of the liquid is gone.  Cool down and you'll have ethanol in the small glass.  Repeat distillation to increase concentration of ethanol.
174582
The energy contained in corn is in the form of stored chemical energy (in the form of hydrocarbons), that was created by solar energy and photosynthesis of the corn plant. \n\nThe seeds of corn can be made into sugar, food, ethanol, or even burnt alone as fuel. Each of these products contains hydrocarbons that contain chemical energy that can be converted to heat energy. Some new work is being done to convert the rest of the corn plant to ethanol or other sources of energy. It was common to burn corn cobs during the depression as fuel to heat homes. Today, they may be converted to alchohol fuel for automobiles using genetically engineered yeast. Shell Global Solutions and Iogen in Canada have built a demonstration plant to create ethanol from cellulose, which could include the entire corn plant, or other plant materials like wheat straw that shows great promise for producing environmentally-friendly economic fuel.