Ethanol fuel in the United States

Current interest in ethanol fuel in the United States mainly lies in bio-ethanol, produced from corn, but there has been considerable debate about how useful bio-ethanol will be in replacing fossil fuels in vehicles. Concerns relate to the large amount of arable land required for crops, [ [http://www.efrc.com/manage/authincludes/article_uploads/Deforestation%20diesel1.pdf Deforestation diesel – the madness of biofuel] ] as well as the energy and pollution balance of the whole cycle of ethanol production. [Youngquist, W. Geodestinies, National Book company, Portland, OR, 499p.] [ [http://www.oilcrash.com/articles/pf_bio.htm The dirty truth about biofuels] ] Recent developments with cellulosic ethanol production and commercialization may allay some of these concerns. [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/5353118.stm Biofuels look to the next generation] ]

Ethanol currently constitutes only a small fraction of the United States' fuel supply, but domestic production capacity has more than doubled since 2001, to over 4.5 billion gallons per year. Most cars on the road today in the U.S. can run on blends of up to 10% ethanol, and motor vehicle manufacturers already produce vehicles designed to run on much higher ethanol blends. Portland, Oregon, recently became the first city in the United States to require all gasoline sold within city limits to contain at least 10% ethanol. [ [http://www.cleanedge.com/book/Introduction_The_Clean_Tech_Revolution.pdf Introduction: The Clean Tech Opportunity] p. 3.] “Flexible-fuel” cars, trucks, and minivans can use gasoline and ethanol blends ranging from pure gasoline up to 85% ethanol (E85). By mid-2006, there were approximately six million E85-compatible vehicles on U.S. roads. [Worldwatch Institute and Center for American Progress (2006)]

The Renewable Fuels Association counts 113 U.S. ethanol distilleries in operation and another 78 under construction. Ethanol production is likely to soar over the next several years, since the Energy Policy Act of 2005 set a renewable fuels standard mandating 7.5 billion gallons of annual domestic renewable-fuel production by 2012. President Bush eventually seeks to generate a western-hemisphere dominated industry that can produce as much as 35 billion gallons (130 billion liters) a year, equal to the entire world's production as of 2007. ["Financial Times". "Bush Signs Green Fuel Development with Brazil; " March 10-11, 2007]

Expanding ethanol industries provide jobs in plant construction, operations, and maintenance, mostly in rural communities. [Worldwatch Institute and Center for American Progress (2006). [http://images1.americanprogress.org/il80web20037/americanenergynow/AmericanEnergy.pdf "American energy: The renewable path to energy security"] ]

Ethanol has less energy than an equivalent volume of gasoline, but can be produced from domestic renewable sources such as corn, sugar beets and sugar cane.There are also industrial processes which use ethanol as an intermediate or final product, mouthwash for example. Companies that serve industrial users of ethanol have been observing the green movement and have found ways to collect and reprocess ethanol. For instance, Veolia, an environmental services company, has been a pioneer in the field of gathering waste ethanol and producing it from other resources. This is a new alternative to the low yielding corn production.Waste ethanol is cleaned up through distillation, which increases the alcohol content to match ethanol produced from corn. Ethanol is also produced from off specification alcoholic beverages and through the fermentation process of other off specification beverages and products such as out-of-date cola syrup.The resulting liquids are processed through the fermentation and distillation equipment. All the packaging, plastic, aluminum, steel, cardboard and wood pallets, is recycled. The final ethanol product is sold back in to the ethanol market where much of it is used as fuel. [ [http://www.americanrecycler.com/0908/veolia.shtml] ] In the United States, the newest ethanol recovery plant opened in Medina, Ohio, in July 2008, by Veolia Environmental Services, confirming the green movement in alternative fuel production [ [http://veoliaes.com/resources/pressrelease/PR-VES-TS-Veolia-Starts-Ethanol-Recovery-Operations-in-Medina-073008.pdf []

History of ethanol in the US

In 1826, Samuel Morey, experimented with a prototypical internal combustion engine that used ethanol (combined with turpentine and ambient air then vaporized) as fuel. At the time, his discovery was overlooked mostly due to the success of steam power. And while ethanol was known of for decades, it received little attention as a fuel until 1860 when Nicholas Otto began experimenting with internal combustion engines. In 1859, oil was found in Pennsylvania which provided a new supply of fuel for the United States. A popular fuel in the U.S. before petroleum was a blend of alcohol and turpentine called "camphene", also known as "burning fluid." With the discovery of a ready supply of oil, kerosene's popularity grew.

in 1896, Henry Ford designed his first car, the "Quadricycle" to run on pure ethanol. Then in 1908, he produced the famous Ford Model T capable of running on gasoline, ethanol or a combination of both. [cite web|url=http://www.telegraph.co.uk/motoring/main.jhtml?xml=/motoring/2008/07/25/mnmodel125.xml|title= Ford Model T reaches 100|publisher=The Telegraph|date=2008-07-25|accessdate=2008-08-11] [cite web|url=http://journeytoforever.org/ethanol.html#ethintro|title= Ethanol: Introduction|publisher=Journey to Forever|date=|accessdate=2008-08-11] Ford continued to advocate for ethanol as fuel even during the prohibition, but cheaper oil caused gasoline to prevail.

Gasoline containing up to 10% ethanol has been in increasing use in the United States since the late 1970s. The demand for ethanol fuel produced from field corn was spured by the discovery that methyl tertiary butyl ether (MBTE) was contaminating groundwater. [cite web |url=http://www.eia.doe.gov/pub/oil_gas/petroleum/feature_articles/2006/mtbe2006/mtbe2006.pdf |title= Eliminating MTBE in Gasoline in 2006|date=2006-02-22|publisher=Environmental Information Administration|accessdate=2008-08-10] Citation | last = Goettemoeller, Jeffrey; Adrian Goettemoeller | title = Sustainable Ethanol: Biofuels, Biorefineries, Cellulosic Biomass, Flex-Fuel Vehicles, and Sustainable Farming for Energy Independence | year = 2007| publisher = Praire Oak Publishing, Maryville, Missouri |pages=42 |language=| id = ISBN 978-0-9786293-0-4 ] MBTE use as a oxygenate additive was widespread due to mandates of the Clean Air Act amendments of 1992 to reduce carbon monoxide emissions. As a result, MTBE use in gasoline was banned in almost 20 states by 2006. There was also concern that widespread and costly litigation might be taken against the U.S. gasoline suppliers, and a 2005 decision refusing legal protection for MBTE, opened a new market for ethanol fuel, the primary substitute for MBTE. At a time when corn prices were around US$ 2 a bushel, corn growers recognized the potential of this new market and delivered accordingly. This demand shift took place at a time when oil prices were already significantly rising. By 2006, about 50 percent of the gasoline used in the U.S. and more than 85 percent of Hawaii’s gasoline contains ethanol at different proportions. [ [http://www.hawaii.gov/dbedt/ert/new-fuel/ New-Fuel.com - Hawaii's Transition to Ethanol-Blended Fuel ] ]

Current trends

ee also

*2007 U.S. Farm Bill
*Renewable energy in the United States
*E85 in the United States
*Ethanol fuel in Australia
*Ethanol fuel in Brazil
*Ethanol fuel in the Philippines
*Ethanol fuel in Sweden
*List of renewable energy topics by country

References

External links

* [http://econ.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/EXTDEC/EXTRESEARCH/EXTWDRS/EXTWDR2008/0,,contentMDK:21501336~pagePK:64167689~piPK:64167673~theSitePK:2795143,00.html World Bank, Biofuels: The Promise and the Risks. World Development Report 2008: Agriculture for Development]
* [http://www.ethanolrfa.org Renewable Fuels Association web site]
* [http://www.ncga.com/ethanol/debunking/index.htm Debunking Pimentel: Ethanol - Efficient Fuel]
* [http://petroleum.berkeley.edu/papers/patzek/CRPS416-Patzek-Web.pdf Thermodynamics of the Corn-Ethanol biofuel cycle, T.Patzek]