Kentucky Department of Agriculture
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Henry Ford designed his 1908 Model T automobile to run on alcohol. But a plentiful domestic supply of oil in the early 20th century prompted the use of gasoline as the primary fuel for cars for the next 100 years.
Now, in the dawn of the 21st century, America imports nearly 60 percent of its oil to power its millions of vehicles. Record crude oil prices have caused the price of gasoline to hit $3 per gallon several times. It has also caused the nation to return to using alcohol, or ethanol, as fuel.
To prove ethanol’s feasibility, the Indy Racing League’s cars are using a 10 percent ethanol blend (E-10) this year. Next year, all Indy cars will begin using 100 percent fuel grade ethanol. E-100 is the highest-performing fuel on the market with an octane rating of 113. Ethanol is an alcohol made from ground-up corn that has been converted into simple sugars, fermented and distilled. Think of the nation’s 97 operational ethanol plants as giant corn-liquor stills, producing about 4.5 billion gallons of “white lightning” per year, according to the Renewable Fuels Association. Another 33 plants are currently under construction, which will boost annual capacity to 6.4 billion gallons within a few years.
A Commonwealth Agri-Energy employee monitors the plant’s CAE has been the picture of success since it made its first shipment of ethanol on March 8, 2004. It is surrounded by miles of flat, fertile Christian County farmland, which grows most of the corn it needs. CAE is owned by nearly 3,000 area farmer investors. The plant was expanded last year from its original capacity of 20 million gallons per year to 33 million gallons currently, 3 million above its planned capacity. Half of the plant’s ethanol is shipped to Louisville, and a quarter of its output goes to St. Louis. Although no decision has been made, Henderson admitted there is already talk of expanding again to 40 or 50 million gallons per year, diversifying into making products other than ethanol, and using some non-corn fuel sources, such as switchgrass and wood chips. What are the benefits of ethanol? It’s good for your car. Because of its high octane rating, it is blended with unleaded gasoline as an octane enhancer to replace the banned ground water contaminant MTBE (Methyl Tertiary Butyl Ether). And ethanol doesn’t leave gummy deposits in a car’s fuel system. It’s good for the environment. Ethanol is biodegradable and burns cleaner, reducing tailpipe carbon monoxide emissions by as much as 30 percent. It’s good for the country. By 2010, U.S. ethanol production could displace the equivalent of 311,000 barrels of imported crude oil per day.
“We’re gonna be hooked on petroleum for a long time to come,” Henderson said. “We [the ethanol industry] are still a few years away from taking a major chunk of the petroleum industry. And to replace it wholly, we’ll need more than just ethanol.”
For more information on ethanol, visit the following links: American Coalition for Ethanol Kentucky Corn Grower's Association Kentucky Clean Fuels Coalition ethanol page US Department of Energy ethanol page Ethanol Facts (from the National Corn Growers Association)
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