Cellulosic

In the early part of the 20 century scientist developed a strain of microbes that would produce acetone as a by-product instead of ethanol. With today’s knowledge of genetic engineering it should be possible to develop a new strain that would digest cellulose and produce a hydrocarbon as a by-product. Even more refined produce a branched hydrocarbon such as 2,2,4 tri-methyl-pentane. Since this is not soluble in water it would eliminate the need to distill to separate it from the water. In the manufacture of ethanol the final distillation process uses so much energy the product is not competitive. There are wild grasses that grow in the plain states like the Dakotas and Nebraska called switch grass. These grasses require no fertilizer, herbicides or pesticides and no irrigation. It is estimated that there are 35 million acres of marginal land, most of which is now set aside, where these grasses will grow naturally. The advantage of biofuels like cellulose is that they use up as much CO2 as they produce. It would take only minor changes to be able to use the existing ethanol plants for this production.