Home Ethanol Production

I notice that the amount of ethanol that you based your figures on was 8%. I am currently using turbo yeast to produce 21% (before distillation)and only running it in a fractioning reflux still for a single pass to produce 194 proof ethanol. Large ethanol refineries use the same turbo yeast that I am using and as well they don't make a 3 step process out of their distillation process. They use continuous fractioning reflux stills to produce the same product that I do. We both further refine our ethanol to 200 proof (100%) by passing our ethanol through a molecular sieve to remove the final 3% of water. The refineries usually use corn grits to absorb the water, then after it is saturated they will use the grits to feed the next batch of 'beer' for fermentation, thus recycling the precious resource that they have. I personally use zeolite to remove the water content, once it is saturated I take it outside and dry it in my solar powered 'hot box'
The more technology pushes forward and consumers push to make the change to green fuels, the more the affordable it will be to produce ethanol. Radical new strains of yeast are being tested and even in production facilities like Iogen in Canada. Thanks to the efforts of Dr Nancy Ho (Purdue University) for developing a GMO organism (genetically altered Sacchromyces Yeast) that converts Xylose (celluloid sugars)into ethanol. This is a leap in the right direction of recycling farm waste into energy. Celluloid materials like corn stalks, wheat straw and rice strw that are normally a wate product of farming could be the new future of reducing our dependency of the oil market.

All of these numbers are based on ethanol produced from CORN! Corn is a horrible plant to make ethanol from. Much of the arguments against Ethanol are voided by using a good energy capturing plant. I would suggest sugar (2000 gal/acre-see Brazil) as opposed to corn (328 gal/acre) and lets use farm land (grazing) instead of crop land to grow it.

It is really funny to read these posts . It appears that alot of you don't know enough about ethanol or its production to conclude if it is a good thing or a bad thing.
If you really care about the enviorment go back to riding horses and letting them pull your wagon. Then some animal rights activist will come up with a reason that is wrong to do.
In the end the only safe alternative is pedal power. Pedal power would have many benefits too. Obesity would fade away. Local bakers, farmers, livestock producers would develop a market in the community. Communities would become closer and more interdependent.
But alot of other things people have come to think of as necessities would also disappear.
There is no perfect solution. To continue in our present path frozen with indecision and fearfulness to move ahead is probably the worst disaster. Letting the oil companies shove NG at us is not too bright either.
Henry Ford and many other great minds predicted back in the 1920s that alcohol for fuel would be the way of the future. They were right.
Study more about ethanol and bio-diesels both are good choices and will take far less effort and expense than any other ideas out there. Both are better than gasoline and diesel and what goes into their production and the pollution they create.

What I find hilarious is that when your icon Al Gore came out with the new liberal bible "An Inconveniant Truth" most of you liberals panicked like a herd of cattle and were all for ethanol production, pushed hard for it despite the consequences. In typical liberal fashion you rushed into something that you did not understand (ethanol), when this did not give you immediate gratification and the consequences were realised you were nowhere to be found. In typical liberal fashion you simply pointed the finger and blamed someone else for this.

Hi, love your website. I have a forum site devoted to Alternative Energy. Would you like to link-swap?

"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?" Do you drink? do you know anyone who drinks? of course ethanol will be remembered, in at least one form anyway. don't forget however, that corn is not the only source for ethanol, and it is far from being the best source for ethanol as well. i do believe that i read at one time that wick wheat produces approximately 10 times the amount of bio fuel (per capita) that corn does, however let us not forget the wonderful hemp plant that would, if allowed by our "wonderful" () government to use for such a reason, produce more bio fuel than any other plant it's size. also don't forget the benefits of having rather large groves of cannabis/hemp such as taking in more than twice the carbons, and producing more than twice the oxygen than, once again, any other plant it's size. it is very simple to grow and grows faster than any other bush/tree on the planet, in fact if grown properly it can grow faster than corn. in closing for those of us who do wish to live green, allow us to truly live green and urge for full legalization.

LEGALIZE IT!!!