Bio Fuel - What Part Of The Corn?

One of the biggest questions out their when it concerns bio-fuel is, “Which is the better part of corn, the husk or the kernel?” So far scientist and researchers have found out that even though ethanol is made from corn (among others such as soybeans, used cooking oil, and switch-grass), corn husks make what is called celluosic-ethanol.

Celluosic-ethanol is agreed upon to produce more energy than the kernel does. So why not start making E10 fuel (10% ethanol : 90% gas) with celluosic-ethanol? Well, for one, it is a lot hard to get the celluosic-ethanol out of the husk than it is to get ethanol out of the kernel. The harder it is to extract a specific item from things, the great the cost is to product a product. Corn husks aren’t the only things that can product celluosic-ethanol. Products such as wood pulp, municipal waste, and left over grain can as well.

Another problem that not only celluosic-ethanol fuels face, but ethanol as well, is the fact that it cannot be transported via a pipeline. Reason being is that the ethanol will corrode iron and that is what the majority of the pipelines world wide are composed of. This all can be fixed later on but it won’t be easy or cheap. On top of that, many processing facilities run on coal for their processors and often have to ship the fuel via trucks.

Don’t let this trouble you since the D.O.E. (Department of Energy) has actually doubled its efforts to research since 2005. If they haven’t given up than our hope is that much greater to find something that will help finally kick our nasty habit; Fossil Fuels.

As Always, Keep it Green