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Dominic Deichert. Sugar Beet vs Corn Ethanol. Ethanol. Ford Model T designed to use pure ethanol Today, a fuel additive to decrease gaseous emissions An AKI octane number of 100.5 to 116 - commercial gasoline average is 87 A functional unit of 1.5 gallons ethanol to 1 gallon gasoline.
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Dominic Deichert Sugar Beet vs Corn Ethanol
Ethanol • Ford Model T designed to use pure ethanol • Today, a fuel additive to decrease gaseous emissions • An AKI octane number of 100.5 to 116 - commercial gasoline average is 87 • A functional unit of 1.5 gallons ethanol to 1 gallon gasoline
Why Sugar Beets? • Can be grown annually in most regions • Current production is 1,243,000 acres giving 22.2 tons/acre beets (27,537,000 tons beets) • Studies of French sugar beet ethanol suggests 750 gallons ethanol per acre - 590 gallons per acre of sugar cane in Brazil. • One downside: Cost is 2-3 times as much for sugar beet ethanol compared to sugar cane
American Farming • Sugar Beets: 532.8 gallons/acre • Need 1.51x current production for 1% • Losses due to fertilizer, pesticide, and machine use: 18.2% • Corn: 369.75 gallons/acre • Need 3.6% current production for 1% • Losses due to fertilizer, pesticide, and machine use: 32.2%
Net Energy • Processing • Sugar Beet Losses: 32.9% • Corn Losses: 58.1% • Overall Losses • Sugar Beet: 51.1% • Corn: 90.4%
Summary • Ethanol is a tested immediate solution to cut emissions • Sugar beets have highest productivity of ethanol per acre and are suited for the U.S. • Both processes are the same with an additional step to break up starch into sugar • Sugar beets are better than corn from an energy standpoint