Inside the plant: how ethanol is made explains ethanol production is a several-step process. First, the corn is hammered into a flour which is mixed with water, enzymes, and anhydrous ammonia. The mixture is heated, which causes the enzymes to begin breaking the starches into sugar. It is heated again and then fermented for 50 hours. Then it is distilled in a two step process to produce 200 proof alcohol. About 1/3 of the American corn crop is converted into ethanol.
Ethanol standards take bite from corn tells that California regulators ruled last week that ethanol carbon ratings must include the total footprint, not just the alcohol itself. As a result, gasoline is actually 'greener' than ethanol. Ethanol industry pins hope on panel of experts adds that the ethanol industry feels their product was unfairly treated in last Thursday's ruling. The California board ruled favorably for hydrogen, electricity, and natural gas.
The California Air Resources Board (CARB) require the carbon content of fuels sold in the state to be reduced 10% by 2020. As mentioned above, it includes the total footprint of the biofuel. A biofuel winner was Brazilian sugarcane ethanol, which was determined to have a carbon rating 26% lower than corn ethanol. The debate concerns the Global Trade Analysis Program (GTAP) developed by Purdue University to compute the total carbon footprint.
Will California shuck corn ethanol adds that every acre of corn requires 130 pounds of nitrogen and 55 pounds of phosphorus to improve crop yield. Also, ethanol yields 30% less energy per gallon than gasoline, with a similar loss in gas mileage.
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