With so much volatility in today ’s world oil market , many are attempt out substitute fuels to powerfulness cars . Some , including corn producers , have toutedethanolis a potential alternative fuel . Ethanol , orethyl alcohol , is made by fermenting and distil simple sugars fromcorn . ethyl alcohol is sometimes immix withgasolineto producegasohol . Ethanol - conflate fuels calculate for 12 percent of all automotive fuels sell in the United States , according to theRenewable Fuels Association . In very pure forms , ethanol can be used as an alternative to gasoline in vehicle modified for its use .
to direct how much corn you would have to grow to create enough ethanol to fuel a trip across the country , there are a couple of introductory cistron we have to consider :
First , we call for to visualize out how much fuel we will need :
( METRIC : 4,464.2 km / 8.5 km per liter = 525.2 liters )
We make out that it take 26.1 pounds of Zea mays to make 1 gallon of ethyl alcohol , so we can now depend how many pounds of maize we need to fire the Camry on its stumble :
( METRIC : 525.2 l * 3.13 kg = 1,642 kg )
You will need to implant a little more than ahalf an acreof corn to raise enough ethanol to fuel your trip .
According to the inquiry from Cornell , you take about 140 gallons ( 530 liters ) of fossil fuel to institute , grow and glean an acre of corn . So , even before the corn is converted to ethanol , you ’re spend about $ 1.05 per gal .
" The vigor economics get bad at the processing plant , where the grain is crushed and fermented , " reads the Cornell story . The edible corn has to beprocessedwith various enzymes ; yeast is added to the admixture tofermentit and make alcoholic beverage ; the inebriant is thendistilledto fuel - grade ethanol that is 85- to 95 - percent complete . To produce ethanol that can be used as fuel , it also has to bedenaturedwith a small amount of gas .
Thefinal costof the fuel - mark fermentation alcohol is about$1.74 per gallon . ( Of course , a tidy sum of variable quantity go into that turn . )
For more information on grain alcohol and fuel economic system , insure out the links on the next page .
