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Measurement Automation Strategy Key to Bio-Ethanol Refinery Efficiency

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Ethanol production holds great promise for our country’s energy future and also provides an excellent opportunity to support our domestic agricultural economy and communities. Read this whitepaper and learn how measurement automation strategies are key to efficiency in bio-ethanol refinery.

The conversion of corn into fuel ethanol is once again gaining popularity and is an appealing business opportunity for farm communities and agribusinesses in the mid-west and other regions of the U.S. and Canada.  Investors are attracted by the prospect of more than doubling the monetary value of a bushel of corn by converting it into 2.75 gallons of fuel ethanol, 17 pounds of animal feed, and other value added byproducts.

In the U.S. alone, over 120 plants are now producing ethanol from corn feedstock, and another 76 are under construction.  Dozens more are in various stages of planning, with total domestic production capacity expected to double during the next five years.  The Des Moines Register recently reported that farmers planted more corn in 2007 than in any year since 1944, based on expectations of increased ethanol production.

The rapid increase in production reflects the expanding market for bio-ethanol, driven by growing recognition of the economic, social and environmental benefits of biofuels. Ethanol is increasingly in demand as an octane-enhancing substitute for the additive MBTE, which is being banned in many states.  The 2005 Energy Policy Act stimulated the growth of this industry by offering federal incentives and goals for replacing a portion of our nation’s gasoline requirements with a renewable fuel source by 2012.  Current estimates indicate we will surpass these benchmarks well before 2012.

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