[Gasification] [Bioenergy] Conserve -- In Producing Ethanol, Some Cornstalks Should be Left in the Field

Sat Apr 28 11:41:58 CDT 2007

>
>
> Propane is the best of both worlds - stored under very modest pressure,
> burned as a clean gas.  There is another fuel, di-methyl ether (DME)
> which is the twin of propane and can be made from syn-gas.

tom, can you summarize the process to make DME from syngas?  what are the
temps and pressures in comparison to methanol and FT processes?  the
catalysts?

it is a fairly selective process, or does it produce a big cocktail of HCs
that then need fractioning?

questions questions.  i'll stop now for today . . . ;-)

j

We need to follow real solutions, not partial red herrings.
>
> Yours truly,
>
> TOM REED      BEF
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Dick Glick wrote:
> > Hello --
> >
> > Just another reason for rejecting ethanol -- even if an economically
> > satisfactory method is found for converting cornstalks to -- cellulose
> > -- and then to ethanol -- see below.
> >
> > CFR's methanogenic anaerobic fermentation technology -- without heat
> > as is usually necessary to remove ethanol from its watery environment
> > -- produces a universally useful renewable natural gas -- and equally
> > importantly -- an excellent soil amendment that can be tailored to
> > particular crops.
> >
> > What a fraud is ethanol -- but those same Iowa and the like farmers
> > could even benefit -- to a greater extent than is now possible from
> > renewable natural gas and by-products!
> >
> > More later -- conserve -- quit the Ethanol fraud -- stop driving --
> > carpool -- remote education and office, etc., etc. -- start really
> > reducing CO2 -- this with conservation and CFR's renewable natural
> > gas -- maybe only the starting points -- and remember the renewable
> > problems:
> >
> > The State of Florida announced in summer 2003 a Governor's initiated
> > program....... ".... to develop a Statewide Energy Plan: Energy
> > Planning for Florida's Future".  The report (now removed from the
> > internet -- but I have a copy) contained this admonition:
> >
> > "The prime source of funds to support advances in energy efficiency
> > and renewable energy resources in Florida is controlled by private
> > utilities, whose business objective is to maximize profits rather than
> > to conserve scarce energy resources."
> >
> > And the Administration and their EPA and the Utilities and the
> > Automobile industry and the Ethanol Guys and the Coal Guys and the
> > Petroleum Guys and the Local Governments  ...  and so on and so on!
> > Their position: "You can't conserve as well as depend on renewable
> > energy, etc., or it will ruin the American economy."  Nonsense!
> > That's not the innovative America I grew up in!
> >
> > Best, Dick
> >
> > Dick  Glick, PhD
> > President
> > Corporation For Future Resources
> > 1909 Chowkeebin Court
> > Tallahassee, Florida 32301
> > Phone: 850-942-2022
> >
> > Fax: 850-942-1967
> > Email: _dglickd at pipeline.com_
> > URL: _http://www.CorpFutRes.com_
> > http://wire0.ises.org/entry.nsf/E?Open&project&00031306
> > <http://wire0.ises.org/entry.nsf/E?Open&project&00031306>
> >
> >
> > ------------------------------------------------------------------------
> >
> >
> > In Producing Ethanol, Some Cornstalks Should be Left in the Field
> >
> > By Don Comis <http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/contacts.htm#Don>
> > April 25, 2007
> > If conservation of soil organic matter is taken into account, the
> > United States at best has to cut in half the amount of cornstalks that
> > can be harvested to produce ethanol, according to an Agricultural
> > Research Service (ARS <http://www.ars.usda.gov/>) study.
> > Jane Johnson
> > <http://www.ars.usda.gov/pandp/people/people.htm?personid=21266>, a
> > soil scientist with the ARS North Central Soil Conservation Research
> > Laboratory
> > <http://www.ars.usda.gov/main/site_main.htm?modecode=36-45-00-00> in
> > Morris, Minn., found that twice as many cornstalks have to be left in
> > the field to maintain soil organic matter levels, compared to the
> > amount of stalks needed only to prevent erosion.
> >
> > This doesn't mean harvesting cornstalks for cellulosic ethanol isn't
> > feasible?just that when you add soil organic matter concerns to
> > erosion concerns, it slashes the amount of cornstalks available for
> > conversion to ethanol. For example, 213-bushel-per-acre corn yields
> > leave farmers an average four tons per acre of cornstalks after
> > harvest. Farmers could then harvest about two tons of cornstalks per
> > acre for conversion to ethanol?but only from land with low erosion
> > risks, using little or no tillage.
> >
> > If the same farmers rotate with soybeans as recommended, they can only
> > remove half again as much biomass for ethanol production, or just one
> > ton per acre, to compensate for the lower biomass left by soybeans.
> >
> > Johnson's estimates are part of the Renewable Energy Assessment
> > Project (REAP), formally created in 2006, although she and a core
> > group of colleagues have worked on these measurements for several
> > years prior.
> >
> > REAP was formed to ensure that cellulosic ethanol programs will be
> > sustainable. Most participants work with corn, but others work on
> > switchgrass for cellulosic ethanol. When cellulosic ethanol is made
> > from corn, it uses cornstalks as well as grain.
> >
> > There are nine ARS locations participating in REAP in eight states,
> > from Alabama to Indiana to Oregon.
> >
> > The new program also aims to compare the economic value of biomass for
> > bioenergy versus its value for storing soil carbon. REAP will provide
> > guidelines on harvesting biomass to corn farmers, land managers, the
> > biomass industry and action agencies.
> >
> > Johnson also explored the use of a byproduct of ethanol fermentation
> > as an organic additive to soils. This is an example of the innovations
> > needed to support residue removal.
> >
> > ARS is the U.S. Department of Agriculture <http://www.usda.gov/>'s
> > chief in-house scientific research agency.
> > ------------------------------------------------------------------------
> >
> > _______________________________________________
> > Bioenergy mailing list
> > Bioenergy at listserv.repp.org
> > http://listserv.repp.org/mailman/listinfo/bioenergy_listserv.repp.org
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