• Biofuels: Ethanol By The Numbers

  Filed under biocatalysis, biofuels
  Feb 27

  There is so much conflicting information about the cost of bio-ethanol that it is not surprising to have widespread confusion about whether its production makes economic sense. Here are some numbers to think about.

  Ethanol has only about 60% the fuel value of gasoline; thus, based on energy content measurements, we need about 1.6 gallons of ethanol to equate to one gallon of gasoline on an energy conversion basis. Based on current production methods, the cost of the amount of glucose to produce 1 gallon of ethanol is about $0.80-1.00. Adding costs to isolate and refine the ethanol, the overall cost rises to about $1.40/gallon, which after adjusting for the lower fuel value translates to about $2.24 per gallon equivalent of gasoline, and a bit higher cost once it gets to the pump. Improvements will be made, but ethanol is not yet on an economic par with petroleum-derived gasoline as a transportation fuel. Ethanol does, however, place an upward limit on what gasoline can cost as long as ethanol is readily available to substitute for gasoline. Regardless of what the ethanol producers claim, I would estimate that, realistically, ethanol can be competitive only when gasoline is at or above $2.50 per gallon at the gas station.

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