Renewable energy: ethanol from biomass

Technical Report · Thu Aug 01 00:00:00 EDT 1985

OSTI ID:5350305

Mullins, J T; NeSmith, C C

Information is provided on the current status of renewable energy in Florida. Florida can expect continued increases in the use of ethanol for blends of unleaded gasoline. The sales for 1984 represent about 10% of Florida gasoline consumption. Federal and state tax incentives and other financial assistance are in place to encourage the development and growth of the fuel ethanol industry in Florida. However, it is not expected that Florida will become a major force in the production of ethanol in the short term. All existing commercial ethanol producing facilities employ established fermentation processes that utilize grain or molasses for the most part as feedstocks. Florida is not a large grain producing state and there is not a sufficient supply of molasses to support large scale ethanol production. The use of these feedstocks for Florida ethanol producing facilities is not competitive with the Mid-West grain areas, for example. Research has shown that much of the abundant biomass materials naturally or commercially grown in Florida can be converted to alcohol, but commercial scale facilities have not yet been built. To attract investment money, the non-commercial fermentation technology must progress beyond the laboratory stage and reach a proven and tested pilot plant stage. If the pilot stage indicates a full scale plant will be economical, then the next step is commercialization. 23 refs.

• Research Organization: Florida Univ., Gainesville (USA). Dept. of Botany
• OSTI ID: 5350305
• Report Number(s): NP-5902211; ON: TI85902211
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

09 BIOMASS FUELS
29 ENERGY PLANNING
POLICY AND ECONOMY
33 ADVANCED PROPULSION SYSTEMS
ETHANOL
PRODUCTION
ETHANOL FUELS
COMMERCIALIZATION
FLORIDA
GASOHOL
SALES
FINANCIAL INCENTIVES
FUEL SUBSTITUTION
RESEARCH PROGRAMS
USES
ALCOHOL FUELS
ALCOHOLS
FEDERAL REGION IV
FUELS
HYDROXY COMPOUNDS
LIQUID FUELS
NORTH AMERICA
ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
SYNTHETIC FUELS
USA
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