Corn Fuel

[wg_bent]

Got this off the stoves list...I found it sort of an interesting perspective. This has been posted with
Dick Gallien's permission.

A neighbor, who milks 80 cows, recently delivered 5,000 bu. of corn to the
elevator at $1.40 a bu.. Drying brought his price down to $.90 a bu.. If
it wasn't for the $l25 an acre government subsidy, from our flushed fed.
govt., for raising corn--many would be looking for other employment.

When our busted government gets out of the farm subsidy business and when
the cost of raising corn and shipping it, mostly from the Midwest, all
come together, it would seem that corn stoves would be less attractive.
Having heated only with wood, for 49 years and now in a 75 F. plus degree
home, watching the dancing, bluish flames of a large Quadra-Fire stove,
which only has to be fed morning and evening and the connection I get
with the earth cycles, when I place a piece, of every variety of wood,
which town people dump at my farm compost site--just to get rid of it --
is such an intune connection, where as burning corn is like a major
discord.

At this time of year there are long lines of semi's with corn and beans,
loading onto barges, for China or God knows where. It use to be said
that 2 bu. of top soil goes down the Mississippi River, for every bushel
of corn raised. The govt. has paid farmers to chisel plow vs. mold board
plowing, which should help some. Dropping the corn subsidy, would help
the land more.

Dick Gallien
The Winona Farm
22501 East Burns Valley Rd
Winona MN 55987
http://winfarm.home.rconnect.com/

 

[saichele]

I'd take a somewhat different spinon it, saying we really ought to be increasing the demand for corn and replacing gas/oil furnaces with corn. Up until the 40's, it was commonplace for a truck to come buy and dump a load of coal down a chute to the basement, and someone in the house would stoke to furnace twice a day.

No particular reason you couldn't do that with corn, and have the bonus that it's renewable, and cheaper. And happen by providing a higher market price for the corn, the gov't could, should the spine ever be found, reduce or eliminate corn subsidies.

Overall, we shouldn;t be using portable fuel (oil derivatives) for fixed powerplants. coal, wood, corn, and others are all perfectly viable for that. Let's save the oil for cars, because I'd hate to have to pull over every couple hundred miles to shovel in a bushel and remove some klinkers.

Steve

 

[Corey]

There is only one slight drawback to corn as fuel - mice.

From what I have seen, you need to keep a pretty close eye on this fuel stash or keep it sealed up well. If you just dump a load on the floor or in an outbuilding, I suspect your fuel supply could literally be eaten away!

Corn for cars is OK, too as long as it is ethanol! No need to deal with clinkers, then. I started blending ethanol and gas in my daily driver this past summer - mainly to offset the cost of the required premium fuel. I blend to ~50% ethanol (ie E50 in alternative fuels speak) It comes out to about 96 octane, but costs less than regular 87 octane.

But to sum it up - burn corn (one way or the other!)

Corey

 

[saichele]

Yea, you'd need some sort of dumpster-like thing as a corn bunker, but that doesn't seem insurmountable.

Any issues with your fuel lines and the E50? I've heard some (primarily older) cars the ethanol kind of turns the lines to goo.

Steve

 

[Corey]

So far, no troubles. The car is an 87 Honda CRX with a slightly newer engine. I found a "material compatibility specification" where the test hose is required to be soaked in the hot solvent for several days, then measurements are made to determine if the hose shrank, swelled, became brittle, or if it maintained it's properties. My fuel hose came out OK, so I went with it. Of course that may vary with vehicle manufacturer and age, too.

There are some that claim you can just dump straight ethanol in and go. Then there are others that claim the entire fuel and computer systems need to be replaced. As usual, the truth seems to lie somewhere in the middle ground.

Corey

 

[drizler]

Just curious, is that CRX fuel injected or with the basic carb? Nice car but watch out for rustout in the rear bumper and crossmember area. They tend to pack crud up in there and rust apart. Damned nice car plastic fenders were the best I ever had and better than junk steel in every respect including plowing into a building sliding on black ice. The reason I asked about the Fuel injection is that having owned a 89 SI after the 87 I found the later FI engine a real PITA compared to the simple carb model 87

 

[Corey]

Driz,

Nice to see a fellow CRX fan. It was originally carbed (87 DX) but that engine bit the dust, so I swapped in a fuel injected VTEC engine. The whole story is at coreyonline.tripod.com/crxmainpage.html If you want to talk about rust and junk...this is it!

Corey

 

[webbie]

I'd take a somewhat different spinon it, saying we really ought to be increasing the demand for corn and replacing gas/oil furnaces with corn. Up until the 40's, it was commonplace for a truck to come buy and dump a load of coal down a chute to the basement, and someone in the house would stoke to furnace twice a day.

No particular reason you couldn't do that with corn, and have the bonus that it's renewable, and cheaper. And happen by providing a higher market price for the corn, the gov't could, should the spine ever be found, reduce or eliminate corn subsidies.

Steve

Wonder what the amount of fertilizer and other energy is needed to grow corn vs. Wood or even wood pellets. It could be that corn is best for eating and wood for burning.

We have to calc energy in vs energy out, or else you get a false idea of what works. Ideally, biomass which requires no fertilizer or very little cultivation would be ideal.

 

[Corey]

That is another good point, Craig. I did a little research into it earler this year. Basically, the oil industry funded research indicates that ethanol requires more energy to produce than it produces. The "greens" (environmentalists) claim that ethanol is a net energy gain of 1.6 - 1.8x. As I always say, the truth probably lies in the middle. And of course, new farming methods and new ethanol production methods keep forcing the net energy balance to the positive side. My .02 is that if the energy balance slightly positive at all, then at least it is not foreign oil. Just burning shelled corn, I would suspect that energy balance would be substantially positive.

Corey

 

[Metal]

Another thing to remember about corn is that it is a highly variable fuel. Moisture, sugar, mineral, and starch content as well as density differences can not only change the amount of energy you get from it, but can also make it extremely corrosive to the vent pipe. I believe corn can be a good fuel in the right circumstances, but do your homework before making the commitment.

 

[Tango]

Corn for cars is OK, too as long as it is ethanol! No need to deal with clinkers, then. I started blending ethanol and gas in my daily driver this past summer - mainly to offset the cost of the required premium fuel. I blend to ~50% ethanol (ie E50 in alternative fuels speak) It comes out to about 96 octane, but costs less than regular 87 octane.

But to sum it up - burn corn (one way or the other!)

Corey

Where did you find the ethanol(E50)?

 

[Corey]

I can get E85 at a few local gas stations, but since my car isn't 100% flex fuel capable (need larger fuel injectors) I blend the fuel "in tank"...half a tank of regular gas and top it off with E85. So far my MPG hasn't been too much different. On E50 I get about 280 miles per 9 gallon tank, regular gas is right about 300 on average.

You can check for local ethanol at :
(broken link removed)

Corey