Average corn can be processed to yield 2½ gallons of ethanol per bushel. It has

Question

Average corn can be processed to yield 2½ gallons of ethanol per bushel. It has about 2/3 the energy of gasoline. A barrel of average oil can be processed to yield about 19 gallons of gasoline. If the consumption of energy from petroleum in the U.S. is (22.2 Bbbl per year) was switched to ethanol from corn:

  a) How many bushels or corn would be needed each year?

        b) With an average yield of 159 bushels per acre how many acres?

        c) With 914 million acres of farmland in the U.S. what percentage

              would be needed to produce corn for vehicle ethanol?

Explanation / Answer

Total oil consumption in US per year in gallons

(22.2x10^6 barrel) (19 gallons / barrel) = 4.218x10^8 gallons

Efficiency of corn versus gasoline is 2/3 so number of gallons of ethanol needed is

U =4.218x10^8 gallons / (2/3) = 632.7x10^8 gallons of ethanol.

number of bushels of corn needed is = 632.7x10^8 gallons / 2.5 gallons / bushel = 253.08x10^8 bushels

b) number of acres = 253.08x10^8 bushes / 159bushels / acres = 1.592x10^8 acres.

c) % of corn farming in US

   = (1.592x10^8 / 914x10^6 )100% = 17.4%

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