Fuel from crops

by. Ikhsan hasibuan

Nowadays, biofuel or fuel made from crop becomes popular as an alternative energy to replace natural gas. Some researches have been conducted to increase its energy content. This paper aimed to explain some kinds of biofuel and its energy content. Mainly there are two kinds of biofuel; ethanol which contain of 67% energy and biodiesel which contain of 86% energy.

1. Corn ethanol, Nearly all the ethanol in the US is brewed from yellow feed corn. Proliferating ethanol distilleries are already competing for corn with meat producers, driving up prices. Most ethanol is sold as a gasoline additive or, in the Midwest, as E85 (85% ethanol, 15% gasoline). US can produce 4.86 billion gallons of corn ethanol in 2006 with production cost $1.09 per gallon. Fossil-fuel energy used to make the fuel compared with the energy in the fuel is 1:1.3. Corn ethanol produces 16.2 lbs/gallon of greenhouse gas emission from production and use.
2. Cane ethanol
3. Cellulosic ethanol

source: National Geography (Oktober 2007)