Monday, November 5, 2007 : 1:40 p.m.
Introduction to Ethanol Production
In the infancy of the automotive industry, Henry Ford had a vision that the automobile would be constructed from agricultural based products and run on ethanol. But at least in the near term, Henry’s dream was not realized. Now ethanol is back as a component in almost 40% of the gasoline sold in the United States . Ethanol production has increased from 1.6 billion gallons in 2000 to a current capacity of over 6 billion gallons/year with almost 6 billion more under construction. Last year, the United States surpassed Brazil to become the world’s largest producer of fuel ethanol.
Several events have led to the rapid increase in ethanol production: the development of the modern corn dry mill; cheap corn; global politics and policy; market forces; and plentiful water. Modern corn dry mills are designed to efficiently produce ethanol from the most plentiful crop produced in the US , #2 yellow dent feed corn. In the United States , about 75% of the ethanol produced comes from dry mills with majority of the rest coming from corn wet mills and a small percentage from ethanol plants that use waste sugars. All the new ethanol production that has recently come on line or is under construction will come from corn dry mills.
A basic understanding of modern ethanol dry mills, their water use, and current permitting regulations around effluence disposal will provide an understanding of the current state of the ethanol industry’s water issues and will provide a base to understand where the industry is heading with new technologies to reduce water use.
Several events have led to the rapid increase in ethanol production: the development of the modern corn dry mill; cheap corn; global politics and policy; market forces; and plentiful water. Modern corn dry mills are designed to efficiently produce ethanol from the most plentiful crop produced in the US , #2 yellow dent feed corn. In the United States , about 75% of the ethanol produced comes from dry mills with majority of the rest coming from corn wet mills and a small percentage from ethanol plants that use waste sugars. All the new ethanol production that has recently come on line or is under construction will come from corn dry mills.
A basic understanding of modern ethanol dry mills, their water use, and current permitting regulations around effluence disposal will provide an understanding of the current state of the ethanol industry’s water issues and will provide a base to understand where the industry is heading with new technologies to reduce water use.
Art Wiselogel, Ph.D., BBI International Dr.Wiselogel has over 25 years of experience in biofuels, agronomy, and forestry as a project manager and scientist. He joined BBI International four years ago, and serves as the Manager for the Project Development Division in Lakewood, CO. Prior to joining BBI, Art was at the Department of Energy’s Golden Field Office. Before that, Art was the lead scientist on biomass feedstock research, Feedstock Program Manager, and Biofuels Project Coordinator at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory. Art has also been on the faculty and staff of the University of Georgia, Texas A&M University, Oklahoma State University, and Mississippi State University.