Alternative Fuel Using Corn to Produce Ethanol. Diminishing Supplies of Fossil Fuels Estimated...
Click here to load reader
-
Upload
esmond-dixon -
Category
Documents
-
view
213 -
download
0
description
Transcript of Alternative Fuel Using Corn to Produce Ethanol. Diminishing Supplies of Fossil Fuels Estimated...
Alternative Fuel
Using Corn to Produce Ethanol
Diminishing Supplies of Fossil Fuels
Estimated reserve of fossil fuels 70 – 105 years of fossil fuel reserves This includes crude oil, natural gas and coal.
Ethanol vs. Gasoline as a fuel
Heat of combustion of Ethanol 1406.8 kJ/mol, 24.12 kJ/mL
Heat of combustion of Gasoline 5508.9 kJ/mol, 33.76 kJ/mL
Approximately 29% less energy in Ethanol
Ethanol as a fuel additive Replacing MTBE
Can be used as an oxygenate instead of MTBE, which can pollute soil and ground water
MTBE as an additive reduces engine knocking by increasing oxygen and allowing for more complete combustion of gasoline
E85 gasoline 1 out of every 40 cars and trucks currently on
the road are capable of using a mixture of 85% Ethanol and 15% gasoline
Making Ethanol
Converting starches to sugar Enzymes break down cellulose and starches
in to glucose
Fermentation
The glucose is then fermented producing ethanol
Ethanol production process
Effects on the Economy Costs of producing Ethanol
Prices of other corn related products to rise As the demand for corn increases due to ethanol other corn
related products such as fuel will also increase in price Farming costs
Current farming techniques require the heavy use of fossil fuels. Because of this many researchers believe that producing ethanol from corn requires more energy than it produces
Government subsidies Between 1995 – 2003 the USDA contributed 37.4 billion
dollars in corn subsidies Total production of Ethanol possible
12 billion liters of Ethanol produced in the US in 2004
Effects on the Environment
Fertilizers needed to grow corn can be harmful for the environment.These fertilizers also require significant amounts of energy to produce
Other possible ethanol crops: Sugar Cane and Switchgrass
Bibliography http://petroleum.berkeley.edu/papers/patzek/CRPS416-Patzek-Web.pdf http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethanol_fuel http://www.straightdope.com/columns/060224.html http://www.webmo.net/curriculum/heat_of_combustion/heat_of_combus
tion_key.html http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5173420 http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=7806281 http://www1.umn.edu/umnnews/Feature_Stories/
Ethanol_fuel_presents_a_cornundrum.html http://www.myhusky.ca/media/visuals/ethanol_process.jpg http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MTBE http://www.blog4brains.com/wp-content/uploads/2006/12/starch.GIF http://www.kcpc.usyd.edu.au/discovery/
9.2.2/9.2.2_CellulosetoEthene2.html