[Peace-discuss] some figures on ethanol production from corn

[E. Wayne Johnson]

If corn is consumed by a monogastric animal or by a human, the 
conversion of its gross energy occurs at an efficiency of about 89%.

If the corn is converted to ethanol and DDGS,  the following balance 
seems to be a good estimate of the process.

448000 BTU          Gross energy of 56 Lb of Corn
210000 BTU          Gross energy of 2.7 gallons ethanol derived from 56 
lb corn
136000 BTU          Gross energy remaining in 17 lb of DDGS (wet)
101000 BTU          Gross energy lost per bushel in conversion to ethanol

77%   -  Efficiency of conversion of corn energy by process.

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div.Section1 {page:Section1;} --> 162000 BTU          Energy to process 
corn and distill the ethanol (according to Pimentel, 2005)

210000-162000 = 48,000 BTU net from 1 bushel corn  (plus 136 KBTU in wet 
DDGS)

48000/124000 => Energy yield from 1 bushel corn is equivalent to 0.39 
gallons of gasoline

110 bushels per acre (average US corn yield)



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