Ethanol has an EROI (energy return on input) of 1.0 +/- 0.25 the way we do things now. This means that its a derivative fuel rather than an alternative, but there are a few simple steps we can take here in Iowa that are good for the existing ethanol business and great for our economy. Please join in the discussion to help sharpen this concept into something we can put in front of the legislature for 2008.
The first generation ethanol production energy inputs are natural gas, which is used to make nitrogen fertilizer, diesel fuel used for farming, and processing and heating energy at the distiller which is a mix of electricity and natural gas. All of these fossil fuel inputs can be eliminated with a sensible use of Iowa's massive stranded wind resources.
Ammonia for fertilizer can be made for about $700/ton using tested technology driven by wind generated electricity. We calculate that a 5.0 gigawatt wind installation will produce all of the anhydrous ammonia needed for fertilizing the state, freeing natural gas for use in the home heating market. Iowa has at least 15.0 gigawatts of available wind energy using current turbines and only about 0.9 gigawatts of that have been developed.
Ammonia is also usable as a fuel. The molecules are smaller than gasoline or diesel so existing engines must have very high quality piston rings, special valves and valve seats, and a new propane/ammonia hybrid fuel delivery system. About 5% of the total mix has to be propane to get the ammonia started. It should be noted that ammonia is a farm fuel, good for agricultural operations where the people involved are already trained to handle it safely, as opposed to ethanol which is a road fuel, usable with our existing infrastructure. Estimates range from 5.0 to 10.0 gallons per acre of diesel required to produce corn, ammonia has 40% of the energy of diesel by volume, and someone will need to crunch numbers to determine how much wind would need to be turned to ammonia production in order to fill the entire needs of the state.
Wind energy in this state will be built out first in the northwest corner where 7.5M/s to 8.0M/s wind is found. The next natural step is to build turbines along every single rail line in the state, electrifying rail operations. The Russians have got electrification done already with the Trans-Siberian Railroad, a much tougher environment than we face here. The railroads need laws so that the improvements needed for this change are taxed the same way as their diesel fuel is now. Again we are in need of firmer estimates, the total number of rail miles in the state, the cost per mile to electrify, and an estimate of the number of turbines required to drive it all. The railroads are involved in the distribution of wind turbine components, the transport of grain, and ethanol must move in rail cars because it is a magnet for water and will eat pipeline seals.
Ethanol plants themselves should be built in conjunction with feedlot operations and perhaps with an associated corn biodiesel operation. The corn will be brought in and processed for ethanol first, then sent to the corn oil extraction stage to make biodiesel, then the remaining protein is fed to cattle, hogs, or poultry. The animal waste is captured and processed by anaerobic bacteria producing methane and/or ammonia. Solid wastes at the end of the process have much less odor than raw feed lot waste and are used as fertilizer, closing the nutrient cycle and freeing some ammonia production for fuel use.
If we do this right we get grain, eggs, milk, meat, fertilizer, ethanol, biodiesel, ammonia which is both fertilizer and fuel, a tremendous clean addition to our local power grid, and many, many local jobs putting it all in place. Please lend a bit of your time to this discussion, even if its nothing more than popping in to say "Hey, great idea, hope it gets put in place!"
You mentioned in the article that natural gas should be used for heating instead of for making ammonia.
Well, why not use heat pumps to heat the house with the electricity coming from the wind turbines. When the cold front moves in, the wind does blow quite well.
Actually, I would think that heat pumps make sense before making ammonia, but that's for the number crunchers. Go wind.
There is objective reality and there is political reality. Objective reality is that the $20k ground loop cooling installation is the very best way to heat and cool a house here in Iowa and in other places as well. The political reality right now, with 20% of all heat consumers in the upper northeast going to credit cards to make it through the winter, is that the phrase "conserving natural gas for heating" coupled with no implication of money out of pocket for home owners, is a political winner.
Not since the days of horses, has the notion of making a farm 'self-sustaining' been so appropriate or realizable. I look forward to seeing how this concept evolves.
The whole business just makes so much sense - the rail lines already run to the grain elevators and the ethanol plants always have direct access since their inputs and outputs go in rail cars. Hopefully we'll see a good spurt of discussion here after the New Years holiday is gone. I've got advertising rates for northwest Iowa and the Des Moines register - gonna get this thing announced so we start drawing the locals in as well as the body of readers who've learned about this site from The Oil Drum.