Is Energy (Fuel) Derived from Ethanol A Greener Alternative and Not A Threat to Oil and Gas Industry?

Ethanol derived from crops (bio-ethanol) is a potentially sustainable energy resource that may offer environmental and long-term economic advantages over fossil fuel (gasoline). It is readily obtained from the sugar or starch in crops such as maize, miscanthus and sugarcane. Ethanol made from maize, however, was found to use a significant amount of energy compared to the energy value of the produced fuel. On the other hand, sugarcane has enough energy not only for completely sustained ethanol production, but also for generating surplus (currently at 108 MJ/tonne), that may be sold to utilities. Sustainability of ethanol production is not only a matter of energy balance, but of availability of land area and soil and biodiversity preservation.

Production

Switchgrass Ethanol can be produced in different ways, using a variety of feedstocks. [1] Brazil uses sugarcane as primary feedstock, but a large variety of feedstocks are possible. For information on Brazil's method of ethanol production, see ethanol fuel in Brazil. Crops with higher yields of energy, such as switchgrass and sugar cane, are more effective in producing ethanol than corn[citation needed]. Ethanol can also be produced from sweet sorghum, a dryland crop that uses much less water than sugarcane and produces food, and fodder in addition to fuel. [2] [3] Basic steps for dry mill production of ethanol are: refining into starch, liquification and saccharification (hydrolysis of starch into glucose), fermentation, distillation, dehydration, and denaturing (optional). Carbon dioxide, a potentially harmful greenhouse gas, is emitted during fermentation. However, the net effect is more than offset by the uptake of carbon gases by the plants grown to produce ethanol. [4] The net result of using ethanol as a fuel is to reduce green house gases. [5] [6]

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