Mindzle

Ethanol production plants have been built in the Midwest and have also been promoted heavily through Federal subsidies.  Is ethanol biofuel a significant contender in alternative energy?

That ethanol is benefiting our nation’s quest toward energy independence, in the way that it is used today, is a hard argument.  Why are we using farm lands to make fuel for automobiles when it is not the most practical thing to do?  There is still plenty of oil in the Earth, and plenty of room for improvements in efficiency and renewable energy technologies.

Ethanol production is driving up the price of foods because of the increased competition for grains.  Farmers should be able to make a good living off their land, there is no question of that.  That the gasoline market is competing with our fundamental food production capability, however, brings a good argument.

A disadvantage of ethanol is its heat content is lower than other fuels.  It’s energy density is only 60% of gasoline (HHV = 12,700 BTU/lb vs. 20,500 BTU/lb), and so gallon for gallon doesn’t deliver the same amount of useful energy.  One could envision ethanol being used to heat homes and make hot water, but that is not currently it’s marketed use.

Maybe the final blow against ethanol biofuel is that, unlike solar power, wind power, and other alternative energy systems, it is not tapping a source of free energy (unless it is derived from agricultural waste).  When you factor in the energy used to plant, harvest, and refine the grains into ethanol it is an expensive fuel.  It has almost half the energy of diesel or gasoline, and similar amounts of production costs.

The methods being used to produce ethanol today is not generating alternative energy that lives up to the publicity it has received.  The use of advanced technologies to generate ethanol biofuel from agricultural wastes could prove to be very useful in the future.  It falls in the realm of alternative energy, but in the current way used it is not tapping a free source of energy.