2006-06-05 16:08:09 · 6 answers · asked by brnhndy100 1 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Other - Science
The best plant for ethanol are sugar producing plants such as sugar cane. However sugar cane doesn't produce enough volume. In the US there are only a handful of states that can grow it.
The best volume types are cellulose. That is the material that surrounds a plant cell. Except for wood, all plants are extremely high in cellulose.
The problem is breaking cellulose into sugar. The best known way to treat it with heat and chemicals. Scientists are working on bacteria that will consume cellulose and output sugar as waste. Another dozen years this will be ready to implement.
The current technology on this is far more efficient than corn to ethanol converstion a dozen years ago. Today, even without the special bateria, cellulose ethanol is very good.
2006-06-06 11:17:16 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Right now, the best plant to use for ethanol is corn. There is a potential to use other plants such as switchgrass and even small trees in the next few years, but the technology is not quite there to produce on a massive scale, such as is being done with corn-based ethanol.
2006-06-06 03:03:22 · answer #2 · answered by clairecelsi01 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Typically by biomass corn, depending on species produces 5-10% sugar, which is the key ingredient. Some succulent cactus fruits produce as much as 13-15% and may be cultivated in areas inhospitable to other plants.
Oil when drilled from the ground only produces 86% of the energy put into retrieving it. Meaning for every 100 watts of energy put into drilling and manufacture, you only get 86 watts of energy from the oil. Not very practical as it is. And producing it would only be more expensive.
For every 100 watts of energy put into production of ethanol, you get 126 to 131 watts of energy. The secret to this wonderful ratio of production is most of the work is done by the sun.
2006-06-07 15:56:24 · answer #3 · answered by sibilant_ghost 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
To make bioethanol you can start with either cellulose, starch or sugar. It's simplest to start with sugar; all you need to do is ferment it with yeast then distil it. But in principle you can convert nearly 100% of the biomass of almost any plant into ethanol.
2006-06-05 16:16:11 · answer #4 · answered by zee_prime 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
In general certain species of corn and wheat produce the most ethanol.
The problem is to produce ethanol, almost the same amount of fossil fuel must be used.
2006-06-05 16:29:40 · answer #5 · answered by G 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Yellow ones.
2006-06-05 16:43:26 · answer #6 · answered by rockEsquirrel 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋