Part 2: Reflection

Most ethanol is fermented using the sugar produced from the starch in corn grain or from sugarcane. However, most people think the future of ethanol will be in producing ethanol from sugar extracted from lignocellulose. In previous years we had students look up some of these lignocellulosic ethanol companies. Unfortunately most of them are no longer in business so we’ll go back to corn ethanol companies.

For this reflection, we’d like you to investigate one of the following companies that produces corn based ethanol (or find another not on this list).

Archer Daniels Midland (ADM)

Cargill

CHS

Marquis Energy LLC

Valero

Poet

Other?

Explore the company’s website and report on the following information about their corn ethanol production. Note that some corn ethanol producers (such as Cargill) also produces other products not related to corn ethanol. Be sure that your information about the business start date, technology, plant location, and annual production volume is as specific as possible to corn ethanol.

How long have they been in corn ethanol business?

Are they using any other biomass feedstocks besides corn (for ethanol production)?

What technologies and processes are they using for corn ethanol production?

Where is (are) their corn ethanol production plant(s) located?

How much ethanol do they produce per year (you may have to dig a little to find this information)? 6. Do they make any other products from fermentation?

What else did you find interesting about the company/plant?

Of course provide title and URL for your sources.