Why isn't ethonal made from corn transported by pipeline like oil is?

Answer 1

From how many farms can a pipeline be built?

Answer 2

Many people appear to be reading the question as "Why can't ethanol be transported through existing oil pipelines?" I believe this is a more appropriate answer to the question asked. Oil through a pipeline makes sense because of the volumes and concentrations of facilities. Most oil wells are located in small concentrated pockets like Prudhoe Bay Alaska. This makes it relatively easy to connect several wells with a small network of pipes. Other oil facilities like refineries, tank farms and import harbours are again concentrated. Your Ethanol facilities are usually spread out. Instead of several wells within a few miles of each other, you you might have 20+ miles between ethanol plants (as close to the equivalent of a well as is possible in this comparison).

Also there is the difference in volume of production. The Trans Alaskan Pipe Line carried an average of 32.837 MGD (Million Gallons/Day). A large ethanol plant produces 110-120 MGY (Million Gallons/Yr).

Another reason is the age of the industry. Ethanol as a large scale industry is very young. Ethanol has been used in the cornbelt for a couple of decades, but these are low population states for the most part. Only in the last 2-3 years has the industry truly grown (exploded). It takes a lot of time to construct a pipeline to transport fuels. I imagine it is simply a matter of time, but the industry will have to stay viable for a while to make the investment in piping networks worthwhile.

Even though this is not a part of the question, I'd like to aks those that claim ethanol uses more energy than it produces how much energy it takes to produce a gallon of Gasoline?

Answer 3

There's two big problems for ethanol pipelines.

One is that ethanol attracts water, whereas oil products shed water. This contaminates the fuel in the line.

The second is that it's corrosive and can damage piping.

Both of these are problems that can be fixed, but you can't easily use petrol pipelines. You'd have to retrofit, or build new for ethanol.

Answer 4

It's a ridiculous technology, it takes 3/4 "gallon" of fuel to make 1 "gallon" of ethanol, so says the government:
http://www.mda.state.mn.us/renewable/renewablefuels/balance.htm

That factors in ethanol's reduced fuel economy; they're saying you spend 100 joules of fuel to make 134 joules.

It takes a lot of corn to make a little ethanol, so it makes sense to make the ethanol near the corn. That means there's a lot of small ethanol plants scattered all over, and pipelines don't make sense. That's OK, that's what railroads are for.

Answer 5

Ethanol is not yet widely used, it is used in very minute quantities compared to petroleum. So building a pipeline network for ethanol is not yet economically sound, that is as of now.

When it becomes widely used and in huge demand, expect pipelines to be built to be able to cope up with the demand.

Answer 6

The corn used to make ethanol can be grown in any number of locations and doesn't require the same dispersal system as oil. Oil isn't available everywhere and in many cases is far more cost-effective to move by pipe.

Answer 7

My understanding is that ethanol has strong detergent properties, so they could not easily reuse a petroleum/gasoline pipeline. Petroleum products tend to leave gummy deposits in pipelines which alcohol would dissolve, leaving you with a tainted product.
Of course, this doesn't mean that ethanol pipelines couldn't be built.

Answer 8

Greg is almost right. Ethanol is not as much corrosive as it is errosive. It damages the pipeline by gradually wearing it away just like you gradually wear away wood by rubbing it with sandpaper.

Answer 9

Ethenol is a pipe dream that will never survive in the market without government forcing the issue. Give me some gasoline or diesel any day. I can't fuel my motorhome with corn.

Answer 10

it goes bad, it's made from vegetables. and speaking of pipes, give up the pipe dream, there is no magic bullet. it takes more energy to make this crap than it can produce, and, the gas mileage goes down! you people will believe anything!