Ethanol Productivity Yield

There has been concern that Corn Ethanol cannot produce enough Ethanol to meet fuel demand in the U.S. and that its production increases the price of food.  Although this is true, it does not mean that Cellulosic Ethanol technology is limited by the same economic factors as Corn, because Cellulose is a cropless source and oftentimes its by-products are not consumable.  On the other hand, For Fuel Freedom (3F Inc Biofuels^SM) has a common-sense approach.  3F Inc's Super-cellulosic^SM method resolves the alternative fuel sufficiency dilemma with its economy being separate from food production, and its yield is high enough to meet U.S. fuel demand using waste resources available.

An American Dilemma

Ethanol vehicle fuel has been in short supply or too expensive to produce, and that shortfall has kept America from embracing it as an alternative fuel.  The U.S. consumes approximately 107.3 and 141.3 billion gallons of gasoline a year (James Hamilton, Daily Summer Demand Table).  So, the question is whether that is a reachable goal for ethanol as an alternative to fossil fuel.

"Statistical wisdom concludes that not all ethanol is identical.
Corn ethanol must sell its byproducts in order to be profitable."

The world does not need to look any farther for a fossil-fuel alternative than ethanol.  Ethanol has lost favor recently because of the unsustainability of corn ethanol, but not all ethanol is identical.  Yes, the end-product may be the same, but the energy requirements and systems and feedstocks vary widely.  To explain the difference, corn crops (and similar grains) have an energy surplus of 13%, produce 92.3 – 96.4 gallons per ton of bio-material (equivalent to bushels) with a profit margin close to 115 gal. per ton.  Corn must sell its byproducts in order to be profitable, and that means selling the leftover pulp called distiller’s grain to cattle feed companies, which increase the prices of food.  As a result, it affects the price of fertilizer that corn farmers use, and the cycle of hyper-inflation is complete.  That is what makes corn ethanol lethal to the U.S. economy.  Similarly, sugarcane would seem to be economically sustainable at first glance because it produces 120.2 gallons per ton, but it does not grow in the Continental U.S. due to climate, and cannot be shipped from Hawaii reasonably.  Other feedstocks, like switchgrass and jatropha that can produce 157.2 – 165.3 gallons per ton, are also seasonal, climate specific, and have similar energy limitations related to harvesting and transport.

Crops are not the only source for making ethanol.  Ethanol made from cellulose, such as trash, has an energy gain of 22% but only produces 65.7 – 74.6 gallons per ton of biomass, and is profitable on an average of 84 gal / tn.  They too, must sell their pulp by-product in order to be profitable.  Generally speaking, there are two camps of cellulosic secondary profit streams: glass aggregate, and gypsum.  Glass aggregate is an industry that uses ash and sand primarily for construction applications.  Gypsum as an ethanol by-product is also used in construction in wall board.  For instance, the BlueFire Renewables’ Arkenol process comes from mixing their acid during the pretreatment phase with limestone.  All of these first and second generation conventional methods are economically bankrupt because they must market their product to the construction trades – a volatile economic sector.  But, that is not the whole story behind the future of cellulosic-based ethanol.

American Ingenuity

Next-generation cellulosic ethanol has the potential of making a difference in current and long-term economics.  Consumers like the convenience of gasoline-like vehicles, fuel filling stations are already converted for 10% ethanol, and car manufacturers already have sold millions of cars that run on flex-fuel blends.  So, if next-gen cellulosic ethanol could be economically sustainable and be produced at a non-subsidized price that adjusts for its energy output difference from gasoline, the problem is solved. 

"3F Inc's system is the same as putting 3 distilleries side-by-side,
and sharing one feedstock between them."

But is economically sustainable ethanol really possible?  The following companies think so: 3F Inc Biofuels (For Fuel Freedom); Coskata Inc. / General Motors Corp.; Iogen Corp.; Lignol Biofuel; Mascoma Corporation / Dartmouth University; Sun Ethanol / University of Massachusetts at Amherst; and Wise Landfill Recycling and Mining.  Each of them are approaching different ways to the age old problem of how to get more sugars to ferment, and thereby increase yield.  These companies are researching ways to use organisms and microbes to expand the existing yield by producing additional sugars, ethanol, or energy by-product that changes the economic equation.  It is estimated that many of them will be able to produce an additional 5 to 27 gallons per ton of feedstock.  But one company stands out.

A hybrid ethanol and bio-diesel system is in trial production.  In 3F Inc's system, algae provides additional feedstock for the ethanol - the same as putting 3 distilleries side-by-side producing 197 gal. / tn. with a breakeven profit of 84 and energy balance of nearly 44%.  The company’s bio-digester hydrolysis currently under development will direct microbial life to consume the cellulose, also increasing available sugars.  Together these systems could be a powerhouse, potentially producing 353 gallons per ton at an energy surplus of 86.5%. 

"There is wisdom in knowing that this scale of productivity may
very well make 3F Inc. the key to global peace & economic stability."

Investors have the right to know that 3F Inc Biofuels is poised to be the technology leader.  Since Kuwaiti economists predicted that global oil will peak in 2014 using the most recent data and the most accurate statistical forecast, which prompted a frenzy by governments to find the best technologies in renewable energy and bio-fuels through the Exemplar Zero Initiative, 3F Inc Biofuels has been getting increasing well-deserved attention for their hybrid ethanol and bio-diesel distillery.  Policy makers and world leaders recognize there is barely enough time to select the best technology, and then begin construction of bio-fuel facilities whose production makes up for the 3.4 – 7.3% shortfall of available petroleum products expected in 2014.  The 3.4% represents the likely shortfall based on a statistical bell curve, whereas 7.3% represents the likely economic impact when transportation fuel becomes affected by scarcity, with a mean of 5.35%.  That amount is the target for countries that do not want to take part in going to war over oil.  This makes 3F Inc Biofuels crucial to global peace and economic stability.

The conclusion economists and policy makers have already come to is that conventional ethanol methods will not ever be economically sustainable or even practical for the long term.  Even if sufficient conventional ethanol mills existed using trash, they would only produce at the most 25.8 billion gallons of ethanol from the larger landfills.  Corn figuratively would produce 31.6 billion gallons if growers had similar amount of facilities, or 0.8 to 1.0 billion barrels.  Based on economic limitations of their by-products, it is more likely that other cellulosic and corn distilleries would produce 20.9 and 16.1 billion gallons, only 19.5% and 15% of the market respectively.  Ethanol’s production capability and economic thresholds will not meet demand unless a more viable method of sugar extraction or yield is used.

"Discernibly,
3F Inc. is the clear choice for renewable energy & bio-fuels."

Whereas, For Fuel Freedom’s process could easily produce between 70.0 and 92.2 billion gallons.  And, just because the overall Cellulosic Ethanol industry has lower fermentation yield than Corn, does not mean For Fuel Freedom’s process has the same fermentation limitations.  For Fuel Freedom’s process works with any organic biomass, including double cropped corn stover, unusable wheat stalk, discarded cotton branches, even municipal solid waste and wastewater.  Assuming 2,920 solid waste districts contained 6 mills each and processed an average of 1.27 million tons of organic solid waste annually, with the organics containing an average of 49.63% glucose and an average 17.28% decay rate, 3F Inc Biofuels would produce 2.1 to 2.9 billion barrels at 65.3% of the demand, at minimum.  Upper limits on how much combined cellulosic material can practically be processed with current technologies with this invention is 4.3 times.  No other company comes close.

Taking Advantage of Ethanol

Ethanol has great potential because it is a fuel that can come from almost any organic source that contains cellulose material.  Landfills contain this material in the form of organics found in Municipal Solid Waste known as biomass.  To minimize costly ethanol farming economies and also to increase recycling efforts, MSW biomass could be used to remedy the disparity between gasoline prices and ethanol production costs.  For that reason, it is believed ethanol has the potential to usher in oil independence and create global security.  Vinod Khosla said at the Clinton Global Initiative conference, “Whoever cracks the nut on cellulosic ethanol will be the next Google” to invest in, scoring the importance of a need for such a discovery (CNBC, Closing Bell, Sept. 27, 2007, 1 p.m.).  Our proprietary process results in a high enough yield to be that nutcracker.  To see how different production rates potentially affects the bio-fuels market, see Ethanol Market Share.

Ethanol promotes environmental stewardship by producing 22% less emissions than gasoline.  For Fuel Freedom does not stop there.  Dr. Richard Alley proved the acceleration of glaciers is being triggered by something unnatural, leading to catastrophic climate change in around 25 to 40 years (National Geographic Channel, "Naked Science", 2002).  Therefore, our goal is to remove pollutants from the air and water as we remove trash from the ground and thereby have the "linchpin" to the total environmental solution.  Our process uses organic material to hydrolyze the sugars from cellulose, rather than acid that can pollute eco-systems.  Our process removes carbon dioxide from power plants and generates its own heat to control the fermentation process while growing additional bio-matter.  We believe in the production of bio-fuels in an economically and environmentally sound manner.