Producing Energy Efficiently

To an untrained eye all ethanol plants look identical. They’re usually surrounded by corn fields and all have storage vessels, grain receiving equipment and boilers that are nearly indistinguishable from one facility to the next. However, all plants are not created equal. Some operate far more efficiently than others.

The EPA presented East Kansas Agri-Energy (EKAE), located in Garnett, KS, and POET’s Ashton, IA facility with the Energy Star Combined Heat and Power (CHP) Award for achieving excellence in energy efficiency in a ceremony at the 2008 Fuel Ethanol Workshop in Nashville.

诗人生物修饰 - 阿什顿和ekae使用涡轮产生热量和动力，根据他们的数据，这两个设施的排放量也减少了15％，并降低了运营成本。

东堪萨斯农业能源

东堪萨斯州农业能源是一种干燥的乙醇植物，其梳妆台制造的蒸汽涡轮机大约产生了其电力需求的三分之一。该系统使用的燃料少于典型的现场热生成和购买的电力少23％。

Ekae利用涡轮机内部产生的所有能量，但是安装涡轮机可以为经济利益带来其他机会。植物经理道格·索默（Doug Sommer）说：“我鼓励任何拥有资本可用于投资涡轮机的运营。”“您可以在内部使用其中的一些，然后将其余部分出售给电网。”

EKAE’s location near the local wastewater treatment facility allowed it to take advantage of another money-saving opportunity. The treatment plant pumps the recycled water into the ethanol plant where it’s used for cooling. This process saves them approximately $30,000 a month in water expenses and allows them to produce a gallon of ethanol with only 1 1/2 gallons of water, about half the amount it normally requires.

索默（Sommer）表达了埃卡（Ekae）的安排。索默说：“废水处理设施提供了我们75％的水。”“没有那种水，我们可能不会在这里，因为这座城市将无法满足我们的冷却需求。”

Sommer说，有兴趣使用CHP系统（例如他们的CHP）的工厂经理应首先与ICM或CPT等工程公司联系，以帮助实现效率目标。

诗人生物炼制

尽管诗人为自己的能源之星奖感到非常自豪，但动机永远不会获得吹牛或荣耀。他们只是具有与无数其他设施相同的目标：更具成本效益的乙醇。

“The largest cost in operating an ethanol plant is feedstock, followed by energy costs,” explains Nathan Schock, director of public relations at POET. “We can’t use less feedstock because then we’d lose capacity; so we sought out to use less energy.”

They achieved their goal by installing a natural gas-fired turbine to generate the plant’s electricity. The energy needed to fire the boilers requires approximately 16% less fuel than typical on-site thermal generation and purchased electricity systems. The system reduces carbon dioxide emissions by an estimated 18,900 tons/year, the equivalent of removing the annual emissions from 3,100 vehicles.

尽管诗人的阿什顿设施最初是由太阳能涡轮机制造的涡轮机制造的，但肖克说，现有的乙醇植物可以改造其电动锅炉以使用从涡轮机产生的热量。

他建议加入EPA的CHP计划，以获取有用的资源和联系方式，以帮助您在工厂寻求提高效率的效率方面滚动。

加热和电力奖

肖克将冠军奖描述为诗人历史上最近的一个里程碑。Schock说：“对于我们深切关心的事情而被认可是令人满意的。”“这项成就并不能结束我们的创新。我们将继续使过程更加高效和环保。”

If your ethanol facility already uses an efficient CHP system, similar to ones these award-winning facilities operate, you may be eligible for a CHP award. Any ethanol facility that has a year’s worth of data proving that it reduces emissions and uses at least 5% less fuel than comparable, state-of-the-art, separate heat and power generation systems, and 5,000 hours of measured operating data, can submit an application. The EPA’s website has more information about the CHP program and award.

新闻中的生物燃料

田纳西生物燃料项目，以扩大当地农民的机会

DuPont Danisco Cellulosic Ethanol LLC (DDCE) will partner with the Tennessee Biofuels Initiative led by the University of Tennessee Research Foundation to construct a pilot-scale biorefinery and state-of-the-art research and development facility for cellulosic ethanol. The facility, to be built in Vonore, TN, will process two nonfood feedstocks — corncobs and switchgrass — from local farms. The 250,000-gallon/year biorefinery is expected to give Tennessee farmers additional market opportunities.

现场准备工作定于今年秋天开始，乙醇应在2009年12月之前从飞行员工厂提供。

“Obviously, the cost of energy has gone up, and shows little sign of retreating,” says Doug Lawyer, the Knoxville Chamber’s director of economic development. “The Innovation Valley is uniquely positioned to lead the way to the commercialization of new technologies. The region’s assets will also help the companies that develop those technologies become successful.”

FoodPriceTruth.org reveals smear campaign against ethanol

该国最大的食品公司，美国贸易集团杂货制造商的所有成员，最近被指控为公共关系涂片运动提供资金，以指责生物燃料的粮食成本上涨。现在，foodpricetruth.org进行了新的分析表明，在坎贝尔汤公司（Campbell Soup Company）的情况下，这些巨头食品公司的企业利润在过去12个月中飙升了121％。

FoodPricetruth.org发言人布鲁克·科尔曼（Brooke Coleman）表示：“食品公司宁愿花数百万美元在乙醇涂片运动上，也不愿向消费者解释为什么他们的食品价格如此之高。”“将生物燃料归咎于高食品价格是这些大型食品公司的绝佳窍门。他们可以提高价格，提高利润，而不必担心它如何影响美国家庭。”

生物燃料报告对冲损失

Biofuel Energy Corp.宣布，由于关闭各种玉米，乙醇和天然气对冲，已意识到大约3600万美元的对冲损失。与Cargill，Inc。签订的所有相关合同尚未获得此类金额的约2200万美元，而母公司目前没有足够的流动性来退休这些义务。Cargill就向公司的某些合同发出了违约通知，并行使其清算这些合同的权利（约占公司对冲职位的60％），造成了相关的损失。

As a result, BioFuel Energy Corp.’s operating subsidiaries, which own and operate the Wood River and Fairmont ethanol plants, amended their credit agreement to permit them full access to their $20 million working capital facility and permits daily access to their revenue account, solely for the purchase of corn, natural gas, chemicals, enzymes, denaturant and electricity. The operating subsidiaries now appear to have sufficient liquidity to complete the commissioning of the ethanol plants.

The amendment still will not permit it to completely meet its obligations to Cargill. The company indicated it intends to continue to review possible solutions with Cargill and its operating subsidiaries’ lenders. However, there can be no assurances these efforts will prove successful.

恶人可以使用比玉米更少的土地实现美国生物燃料的目标

In the largest field trial of its kind in the United States, University of Illinois researchers have determined that the giant perennial grass Miscanthus x giganteus out-performs current biofuels sources by a significant amount. The new findings were published in the journal Global Change Biology.

使用玉米生产足够的乙醇来实现当前的白宫目标，将使当前美国农田的25％从粮食生产中淘汰。来自Mimanthus的乙醇数量相同，仅需要当前农业面积的9.3％。芒果可以产生足够的生物量，产生的乙醇比玉米产生的乙醇高两倍。