- Biofuels are fuels produced from biomass materials.
- The main biofuels produced in North Dakota are ethanol and biodiesel.
- Ethanol, or ethyl alcohol, is a grain alcohol made from biomass.
- It is produced by fermenting the sugars found in corn or other grains.
Fermentation is the chemical breakdown of a substance by bacteria, yeasts, or other microorganisms to convert sugar to ethyl alcohol.
- Corn is the major source of ethanol in North Dakota, as well as in other parts of the United States.
- Ethanol is produced from field corn fed to livestock, not sweet corn that humans eat.
- In ethanol production, only the starch portion of the corn kernel is used; the remainder of the corn is used for livestock feed.
- Ethanol is produced from field corn fed to livestock, not sweet corn that humans eat.
Corn Trivia
- An ear of corn contains roughly 800 kernels in 16 rows.
- A pound of corn consists of approximately 1,300 kernels.
- A bushel of shelled corn weighs 56 pounds. (One bushel = 128 cups.)
- 100 bushels of corn contains approximately 7,280,000 kernels.
- Corn is produced on every continent except Antarctica.
- North Dakota farmers produce approximately 320 million bushels of corn each year.
- Ethanol is a clean-burning fuel that is blended with gasoline.
- Because of its high oxygen content, the more ethanol the blend contains, the less pollution is released from the exhaust.
- Ethanol burns cooler than gasoline, so that reduces wear and tear on engine parts.
- Unlike gasoline, ethanol is biodegradable, and it is nontoxic; however, toxic chemicals are added to ethanol to make it undrinkable.
- The most common blends of ethanol fuel are E10, E20, E30, and E85; E15 is also available in North Dakota.
- E stands for the percentage of ethanol in the fuel.
- Example: E20 contains 20% ethanol and 80% gasoline.
- E10 is safe to use in all cars, trucks, lawn mowers, and other small engines manufactured since the 1970s.
- E15 has been approved by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for use in all 2001 and newer vehicles, including FFVs.
- E20, E30, and E85 can only be used in flex fuel vehicles (FFVs), or vehicles designed to run on high-alcohol blends of gasoline.
- E stands for the percentage of ethanol in the fuel.
Ethanol production in North Dakota:
- About 140 million bushels of corn are produced each year in North Dakota.
- More than 50 percent of the corn used for ethanol is purchased from North Dakota farmers.
- One bushel of corn produces 2.8 gallons of ethanol and 18 pounds of leftover corn products for livestock feed.
- The Red River Biorefinery uses waste from sugar beet (sugar) production and potato processing waste to produce ethanol.
Six ethanol plants are located in North Dakota.
Plant | Location | Employees | Ethanol Capacity (million gallons) |
---|---|---|---|
Blue Flint Ethanol | Underwood | 40 | 73 |
Hankinson Renewable Energy, LLC | Hankinson | 51 | 54 |
Red Trail Energy, LLC | Richardton | 42 | 63 |
Tharaldson Ethanol | Casselton | 54 | 175 |
Dakota Spirit AgEnergy* | Spiritwood | 40 | 75 |
Red River Biorefinery | Grand Forks | 35 | 16.5 |
Totals | 277 | 556.5 |
- North Dakota's ethanol plants have the capacity to produce more than 550 million gallons of ethanol per year as of 2022.
- About 10 percent of the North Dakota ethanol is blended with gasoline and sold in North Dakota.
- The other 90 percent is shipped to other states, primarily on the east and west coasts.
- About 10 percent of the North Dakota ethanol is blended with gasoline and sold in North Dakota.
- Biodiesel is a biomass renewable fuel produced from new and used vegetable oils, animal fat, and recycled restaurant grease.
- It is similar to petroleum diesel but emits significantly less pollution.
- Biodiesel can safely be used in any diesel engine.
- Most buses, trucks, and tractors run on diesel fuel.
- Biodiesel is often blended with petroleum diesel in ratios of 2% (B2), 5% (B5), or 20% (B20).
- Pure biodiesel (B100) contains no petroleum diesel.
- The most common biodiesel is B20 (20 percent biodiesel).
- The renewable diesel produced at the Dickinson Marathon Refinery is different than biodiesel. It is chemically the same as petroleum diesel
Biodiesel production in North Dakota:
- North Dakota has one biodiesel plant.
- The ADM Company operates a biodiesel plant at Velva.
- Canola is used in biodiesel production at the Velva plant.
- The biodiesel plant at Velva has the capacity to produce 85 million gallons of biodiesel per year.
- When the Velva plant is not producing biodiesel, it crushes canola for cooking oil and oilseed proteins.