Cellulosic Ethanol - An Advanced Ethanol Fuel That Could Be the Answer to Our Global Energy Needs

We live in a society that has made it easy for us toabout globally and it is one that can potentially solve
develop very bad energy consumption habits. Weour future energy crisis. Cellulosic ethanol is an
have been spoiled over the last 50 years because ofadvanced type of biofuel that is made from the
the fact that oil from fossil fuels is a very rich energydifferent parts of plants and trees that are not
source, but the problem is that it is not a renewableedible.cellulosic ethanol is made mainly from
energy source and therefore it will run out one day inLignocellulose, which makes up almost all of the mass
the near future. We got a little glimpse of what aof vegetation and it is mainly made up of three
shortage of oil can do to us as a nation last summerdifferent types of cellulose. Woodchips are an
when gasoline prices went over $4.50 a gallon. Nowexample of material that can be used to make
this was just a temporary shortage. Imagine what willcellulosic ethanol, and it can be found all around us in
happen when we are close to using up the global oilabundance. When we cut our lawn and trimming
supply. President Obama, has started to earmarktrees with chips or byproduct of this, so instead of
millions of dollars towards research on alternativethrowing these woodchips away we can use them in
energies . In this article we will take a look at somethe future to create cellulosic ethanol. Another great
alternative energies that continue to show promise.benefit of this type of fuel is that it has been proven
Ethanol is a pretty good alternative energy fuelto reduce greenhouse gas emissions by up to 85%
source and it is already being used in a few foreigncompared to conventional gasoline fuel, and this is
countries. Brazil for example, powers most of thesomething that regular ethanol fuel cannot even
vehicles in its country of ethanol fuel and while it is acome close to matching.
very green energy since it is made from corn andThe only drawback to this alternative fuel is that it
other farm sugars it can really exhaust the globaltakes a lot more processing to get it to the end
food supply really fast if we do not have ways toresult of becoming an actual fuel source. If our
manufacture it on a large scale. There must begovernment really get serious about this and pours in
another alternative fuel source which is readilybillions of dollars into this research they cut down the
available that we really don't depend on as our mainprocessing steps which will enable us to make this a
food sustenance.readily available global alternative fuel. Let's hope the
Cellulosic ethanol is one of the most excitingObama administration lives up to its promise of
advanced ethanol fuel sources that is being talkedfunding these alternative fuel sources.