For those that don’t know, the newer generation Ethanol plants are quite a production to see.  We know what you are saying…”You just did a post that said that Ethanol may not be the answer to the fuel cost.”  We do agree with you, but green is green, and we feel we need to give credit where credit is due.

If  the most you know about Ethanol is that you have that option at the pump, we are going to break it down a little for you.  Ethanol is just two words put together; Ethyl and Alcohol, which is the composition of Ethanol.  If you have ever had an alcoholic beverage, you have consumed Ethyl Alcohol.  Ethanol can be made by using either corn or sugarcane.  If you have the desire to learn more about the actual Ethanol, go here and read up on it.  The actual production is rather interesting.

Let’s get to the green side though.

There are two basic production types for Ethanol; Wet Milling and Dry Milling, with the main difference being the initial treatment of the grain.  We could spend all day telling you the difference between the two production cycles, but this post is about the Green side of the Ethanol Production.  So, if you want to see the difference between dry milling and wet milling go HERE where it explains the basics behind the production cycle and they even have a video for those of you like us, who like pictures

One of the major changes is that instead of using natural gas to run the plant, the green Ethanol plants are using methane gas from cattle manure to generate the steam that is needed to produce the Ethanol.  That switch in itself could save up to the equivalent of 1000 barrels of oil a day.

So, while we agreed that, presently, buying E-10 may not save you at the pump when it comes to dollars, it is a way to cut down oil consumption.

Here is a detailed diagram of what an Energy Efficient plant does.