Technology options, ethanol

Hydrogen has the potential to play a major role in energy independence but policies are needed that mobilize our present technologies. This means raising fuel economy standards, increasing hybrid vehicle use and developing options such as cellulose ethanol. 

Gulati, M., et al. Assessment of Ethanol Production Options for Com Products, Bioresource Technology, 58, 253-264 (1996). 

When perfected, synthesis-gas-to-ethanol technology can be expected to have a large impact on fermentation ethanol markets. It is likely that thermochemical ethanol would then be manufactured at production costs in the same range as methanol from synthesis gas, which can be produced by gasification of virtually any fossil or biomass feedstock. Applying the advances that have been made for conversion of lignocellulosic feedstocks via enzymatically catalyzed options, it has been estimated that the production cost of fermentation ethanol... 

As oil prices increased in the 2004-2005 time frame, interest in unconventional sources has grown These include a major oil sands project in Alberta, Canada ethanol projects in the United States, Europe, and Brazil and even natural gas to liquid (GTL) projects in Qatar, and coal to liquid (CTL) projects in South Africa, China, and the United States. None of these options is actually captured in the "oil reserve" estimates. This illustrates how economics and technology can lead to increased, or even unforeseen, options. 

Some options seek to reduce the adverse environmental impacts of existing products and technologies, while some pohcy options seek to reduce possible disruptions to the economy (e.g., food supply and land-use issues). For example, there is a tendency to allocate higher acreage of farmland to produce com ethanol with rising dependence on biofuels. 

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