Home Ethanol Production

Home Ethanol Production and what is involved in home production.

There is a lot that surrounds the buzz about home ethanol production, and truly each and every one of these matters ought to be met with full recognition and understanding, in order for us to get a

Relating to Home Ethanol Production:

Home ethanol production is considered essentialy a major deal, and in regards to the issue of homespun ethanol production, there are some facts that should really be known relative to an acre of US corn yielding approximately 7,100 pounds of grain for processing into 328 gallons of ethanol; the energy economics get worse at the processing plants, where the grain is crushed and fermented, as many as three distillation steps are needed in order to separate the 8% ethanol from the 92% water.

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

Furthermore, ethanol corn costs approximately $1.74 per gallon to produce, compared with almost 95 cents that it takes in order to be able to create a gallon of gasoline; most economic analyses of corn-to-ethanol production truly overlook that of the costs of environmental damages, and grain production in the US alone erodes topsoil about 12 times faster than the soil can be reformed, and irrigating grain uses 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 actually so many positive factors that stem from it, and yet many negative ones as well, and so this is a matter which is almost certainly going to take some serious time and consideration to accurately figure out.

However, there are some top-notch brilliant people in the world who are looking closely into this situation at this moment, and so we can rest assured in knowing that the problem will be taken care of properly.

Readers have left 24 comments.

No.1 Untitled

While I agree with much of your argument, I think some of your numbers may be incorrect.

Certainly, the cost of gasoline production is higher than the 95 cent quoted above. There are huge government subsidies, both direct and indirect, to the oil and gas industry. The subsidies come from federal, state and even local governments in the form of loans, grants, tax concessions, etc. Not to mention the US government's international work on behalf of big oil (some might even consider the government's recent Middle East policies to be a subsidy to oil). The upshot is that US consumers are paying much more for gasoline than what's indicated at the pump.

Also, I wonder about that $1.74 per gallon cost you specify for ethanol production. The US has for many years been embroiled in an agricultural subsidy war with the EU, and farmers have even been paid to take land out of production (i.e. paid NOT to produce). Ethanol production here and elsewhere is already boosting demand (and prices) for wheat, corn, and barley. Increased demand (and higher commodity prices) will effectively decrease government subsidies to agriculture; this means the actual cost of ethanol production will be even lower.

I'm still not sure what to make of ethanol. It almost seems like a temporary fix that'll quickly be replaced once hydrogen or electric vehicles are a realistic choice for propelling us. I wonder if anyone will even remember ethanol in 20 years' time?

Submitted by Guest User,  • 2007-06-27 09:53:13

No.2 Untitled

Hi Guest
Thanks for taking the time to add your comments. If you have any more views on the whole ethanol issue or any other topic on the site, please comment.

Submitted by admin,  • 2007-06-27 12:17:32

No.3 Untitled

Guest #1
You are using the same 'argument' to support directly opposite points. You state that the price of gasoline is artificially low due to "government subsidies", and then you turn around and say that the cost of ethanol production will decrease when government subsidies are reduced . You can't have it both ways.

It is reasonable to assume that there is a fixed cost - X - for production of one of these fuels (pick either one, it doesn't matter). "X" is composed of the cost paid by the actual producer + the cost covered by any government subsidies. "X" is a FIXED cost, it doesn't change (this is actual 'processing' cost, not including raw material cost), therefore if the amount of "X" provided by 'subsidies' decreases, the cost to the actual producer must increase by the same amount, provided the same process and equipment are used.

And you better believe that the "corn-to-ethanol" industry is subsidized at least as heavily, if not more so, than the oil industry.

Submitted by Guest User,  • 2007-07-05 20:31:22

No.4 Untitled

Ethanol is being subsidized by the government,but,is it as much as the oil companys?The government is paying 52 cent per gallon to the ethanol producers.I don't think the oil industry is being subsidized at $21.84 per barrel.

Submitted by Guest User,  • 2007-07-08 13:24:00

No.5 Untitled

I have a couple of questions. How much water is used to produce a gallon of ethanol? How will this affect the water levels when we seem to be short on water already?

Submitted by Guest User,  • 2007-09-11 12:17:01

No.6 Untitled

I still do not know how to produce ethanol at home or how to convert my vehicle. It would be so much easier to just grow my own ethanol and convert my vehicle because it is what I have. I am tired of the buzz of gas and all the deaths and global warming. I am tired of the prices of vehicles which professionally altered and cared for could take me to the store and work because basically thats as far as most people go. We need to be more realistic and stop the greed I could maintain a still in my yard that would give enough ethanol to get me back and forth to work with just a little education. So why is this so hard for the government? MONEY thats why. Taxes thats why /

\n This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it ' title='Click to send email'>Submitted by nsprdwmn,  • 2007-09-30 23:32:52

Please login or register to post comments.