An Easy Discussion of Ethanol for Gasoline Blends
I do not view the recent government announcement as an unbelievably great idea
President Biden recently announced an increase in the amount of ethanol the US can use in its summertime gasoline blends. I’m a chemical engineer by degree and I trade the unblended gasoline futures, so this topic interests me and was the inspiration for today’s “Thoughts”.
Everyone should know that ethanol is the alcohol many of us drink while TGIF’ing. It is a by-product of a fermentation that generally converts sugar to the alcohol. That is precisely what happens when I make wine up in my summer home in the mountains. The sugar in the grape juice gets converted by yeast to ethanol. Since I concentrate on dry red wines, about 15% of the volume of wine I create is the ethanol. The sugar is totally consumed (therefore the wine is “dry”) and is at 0% at the end of the fermentation. Ah, but it’s not Friday and I digress…
Corn was used in the beginning of the “ethanol for gasoline” days, but now various grains, biomass (organic waste) and other means are used to create the ethanol. This ethanol doesn’t come without a lot of cost.
Chemical engineering has to consider all the costs in creating something like a biofuel. There’s the land used (cost of capital), the strain on the prices of that crop being used to create the biofuel, potentially increasing the food costs. There’s the energy to drive the tractors that plow the fields, plant the corn and harvest the crop. There’s labor involved in getting all that done. The crops may require expensive fertilizers (especially with the war in Ukraine) to keep crop yields high.
The distillation processes to refine the ethanol generally involves some energy. One study a while ago concluded that when you add it all up, and depending on where prices of everything are at the moment and what you are using as a base for the alcohol, creating ethanol can consume up to 29% more energy than it produces. In other words, ethanol doesn’t just show up for free.
Here’s an easy to understand overview of some of the benefits and negatives of ethanol and bio-fuels. This is your first step to becoming a chemical engineer. Enjoy the ride!
https://www.treehugger.com/the-pros-and-cons-of-ethanol-fuel-1203777
Not to mention the lower energy content, harmful to mpg.
That's correct Barry!