USDA Seeks More Ethanol Gallons Per Bushel of Corn
Research
at the U.S. Department of Agriculture is aimed at squeezing more ethanol from
corn. This research focuses on improving efficiency, which could eventually lead
to motor vehicles using ethanol fermented from fiber-rich crop residues like
corn stalks.
Modern ethanol plants ferment grain starches and sugars to
produce 2.5 gallons of ethanol per bushel of corn. Researchers are seeking to
increase this amount to about 2.8 gallons per bushel by converting the outer
fibrous layer of the corn kernel.
"This research delivers on the Clinton
Administration's commitment to the continued growth and development of the
domestic ethanol industry," said Agriculture Secretary Dan Glickman.
"Technological innovations in corn production and ethanol conversion will
continue to improve ethanol yield per bushel and per acre."
More than 60
percent of the 1.3 billion gallons of fuel ethanol produced from corn in 1995
came from wet milling, in which the corn is soaked in water before grinding it.
The leftover fiber is mixed with water and fermentation residues, then dried and
fed to animals. "However, if this fiber were processed into ethanol," says
Robert B. Hespell, a microbiologist at the Agriculture Department's Fermentation
Biochemistry Research Unit in Peoria, Ill., "the increased efficiency and
potential reductions in cost for a corn wet milling facility could significantly
enhance net returns."
According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture's
Economic Research Service, the ethanol energy now produced from each bushel of
corn is more than 25 percent greater than the amount of energy used to grow and
harvest the corn and distill it into ethanol. This is most likely due to today's
higher corn yields, more energy-efficient fertilizer production and improved
distillation technology.
For further information contact the U.S.
Department of Agriculture's website at http://www.usda.gov.
