Research into using biomass as fuel source for thermal energy for ethanol production proceeds.

[JohnWxy]

By using biomass feedstocks for thermal energy to replace fossil fuels (natural gas or coal) the net energy gain for starch based ethanol can be increased several times. Achieving net energy gains approaching those hoped for with cellulosic ethanol.

THis is NOT meant as an alternative to cellulosic ethanol but merely as a considerable improvement in the starch based ethanol technology. These improvements in performance will require additional capital investments but should be cheaper than the costs to achieve cellulosic ethanol commercial viability (once the productivity gains hoped for are actually achieved with cellulosic ethanol the unit cost for cellulosic at industrial scale are expected to be lower.).


http://www.xcelenergy.com/docs/BB-03sebestablombergfinal.pdf

"Corn stover was selected as the biomass fuel for gasification because while DDGS have higher fuel content by weight and do not require preparation as fuel like corn stover does, a secondary market as a livestock feed can provide greater income to the operation than using them as fuel. Also, using stover provides additional income to cooperative members through sales of their stover to the cooperative and promotes adoption of other beneficial practices such as no-till farming. Also, ash disposal costs (assuming ash is landfilled) will be greatly reduced versus gasification of both stover and DDGS."



http://cobweb.ecn.purdue.edu/~lorre/16/research/Bioenergy-symposium-takehara.pdf

Biomass Gasification in a Dry Grind Ethanol Facility: Benefits and Challenges

Purdue 2006 Bioenergy Symposium
Feb. 23, 2006


Don Takehara - Taylor University
Mitch Miller - Central Indiana Ethanol
Robert Brown - Iowa State University
Jason Jerke - Chippewa Valley Ethanol Company