First and foremost, this is not a ethanol bashing, food vs fuel, or political thread.
Since most ethanol plants are not in the black this year and most are in the red, a lot of the plants will be idling back production or shutting down towards the end of this year. There has been some talk, though, to take those plants and stop making ethanol. Through a few modifications to the process these plants can make isobutanol. Isobutanol is supposedly to have more BTU and more energy than ethanol as they did not notice any difference in a iso/gas blend when compared a 100% gasoline. 76,000 BTU/gal (ethanol) vs 96000 BTU/gal for isobutanol.
I'm no expert on this but I found this interesting and wanted to share. Hopefully there are some people who know more about isobutanol.
http://www1.eere.energy.gov/biomass/pdfs/Biomass_2009_Adv_Biofuels_II_Glassner.pdf
http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20...s-Small-Engines
http://www.hydrocarbonprocessing.com/Art...ll-engines.html
Hopefully in the future we can use waste biomass to make all these fuels and get away from corn.
Since most ethanol plants are not in the black this year and most are in the red, a lot of the plants will be idling back production or shutting down towards the end of this year. There has been some talk, though, to take those plants and stop making ethanol. Through a few modifications to the process these plants can make isobutanol. Isobutanol is supposedly to have more BTU and more energy than ethanol as they did not notice any difference in a iso/gas blend when compared a 100% gasoline. 76,000 BTU/gal (ethanol) vs 96000 BTU/gal for isobutanol.
I'm no expert on this but I found this interesting and wanted to share. Hopefully there are some people who know more about isobutanol.
http://www1.eere.energy.gov/biomass/pdfs/Biomass_2009_Adv_Biofuels_II_Glassner.pdf
http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20...s-Small-Engines
http://www.hydrocarbonprocessing.com/Art...ll-engines.html
Hopefully in the future we can use waste biomass to make all these fuels and get away from corn.
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