Is Sugar Beet Ethanol economical?

[TheFarseer]

It is difficult to grow Sugar Cane in much of the United States, maybe just Hawaii and a few southern states. Sugar Beets can be grown in Western Nebraska so I assume they can be grown almost anywhere. I wonder how their yield per acre stacks up to sugar cane. Even if sugar beets took over ethanol production, it would still help corn as some acres in corn production would switch to sugar beets. Any thoughts on this, anyone?

[Parisle]

1. Sugar beets are in the mix

---- I read somewhere that sugar beets distill out to pack a little more caloric punch than corn or other grains,... in other words, a more powerful fuel. I don't know about sugar cane.

[whistle]

2. I have to think that any process which requires energy which is not

...free to produce energy will result in at best a zero sum total. Ethanol still comes out in the negative range, requiring more energy to produce that it gives back.

[CONewRevolution]

5. Ethaanol has a negative energy balance?

The October issue of Wired magazine has a nice write-up on ethanol, by Vinod Khosla. A sidebar to the article says the "negative energy balance" of ethanol is a myth, put forward by one study co-authored by a former oli company employee. It also states that study has been contradicted by 5 others, each showing that corn ethanol delivers 20 - 50 percent more energy output than it takes to produce (including, I believe, the cost of raising and transporting the corn).

I do find it a bit too good to be true that one can get more energy out of a process than is put into it, but it does beg the age-old problem of "who do you trust?" when trying to learn more about this subject.

Myself, I'm going down the road a few miles to talk to the folks at Kergy in Mead, Colorado -- they're making ethanol from all kinds of organic materials, including pig manure, cow manure, and even municipal sewage (ewwwww...)

Ethanol does seem to hold a lot of promise, though, with huge upsides: breaking dependence on foreign oil, cleaning up the air a bit, getting farmers back into a profitable occupation, minimal cost to change the existing infrastructure, and so on. And if sugar beets can be used in ethanol production, my beet-farmer in-laws, outlaws, and other assorted relatives on Colorado's Eastern slope will enjoy having a crop someone is actually willing to pay for.

[Strelnikov_]

6. I Have Concluded That Corn Ethanol Yields No Net Energy

(EROEI~1) based on my review of literature over the years. The production of coproducts is what pushes the EROEI into the 1.5-2.0 range.

I view corn ethanol as an energy carrier. If the process energy is obtained from wind or cogeneration (which would be analogous to methane produced from sewage/feedlot waste) corn ethanol could be a valuable means of converting wind/waste energy into an energy dense liquid fuel for those applications that are best not electrified from an exergy standpoint. Most of the food value of the corn remains, particularly if wet milling is employed.

As for beets, I don't see why a plant could not be designed with dual-feedstock in mind. Beet sugar during cutting season, corn starch from easily stored corn when beet sugar is not available.


Following site has an in-depth discussion of pros/cons of ethanol.

www.theoildrum.com

[proud patriot]

3. It believe it is viable

especially here in the United States

[Strelnikov_]

4. Grain Sorghum, Corn, Beets, Cane

Whatever is cost effective and energy efficient for the growing conditions.

One downside of cane/beets is that it has to be processed soon after harvest as the sugar begins to break down. In the Red River valley (MN/ND) they pile the beets into small mountains, and the (historically) cold winters freeze the beets thus preserving the sugar.


The Economic Feasibility of Ethanol Production from Sugar in the United States

http://www.usda.gov/oce/reports/energy/EthanolSugarFeasibilityReport3.pdf (.pdf)


Approximately 2.65 gallons of ethanol can be produced from a bushel of corn in existing wet mill facilities. Corn-based ethanol plants using the dry mill process can produce 2.75 gallons of ethanol per bushel of corn. Ethanol yield per bushel of corn in the United States has increased significantly since 1980. New ethanol plants utilize the latest varieties of enzymes that convert the maximum amount of starch to glucose and high tolerance yeast that converts the maximum amount of glucose to alcohol. During 2003-05, the corn yield per harvested acre averaged 150.2 bushels. Therefore, the ethanol yield in dry mill plants per acre of corn for 2003-05 was approximately 413 gallons. - Pg. 17

Ethanol production per bushel of sorghum is slightly lower than from dry mill corn, at approximately 2.7 gallons per bushel. Furthermore, sorghum yield per acre is relatively low compared with corn but sorghum is more resistant to drought than corn. The 2003-05 U.S. sorghum yield averaged 63.7 bushels per acre. Therefore, one acre of sorghum could produce about 172 gallons of ethanol. - Pg. 17

Sugar Beets - 22.2 Ton/Ac (Table 7);
and With this recovery rate, one ton of sugar beets would yield 352 pounds of total sucrose capable of producing 24.8 gallons of ethanol. - Pg. 18
Therefore 550 gal/Ac

Grain Sorghum may have promise for cropland not well suited to corn.

Sorghum has more tolerance to drought than corn. In addition, less chemicals and fertilizer are used in the production of sorghum. - Pg. 6


Link to some older yield data.

http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel_library/ethanol_motherearth/meCh3.html#alcoholyield