James Menotti
Professor. Richard Crosby
English 1105
May 10, 2012

In my research paper I plan to research and display how to open an ethanol plant in the United States of America. As a young up and coming entrepreneur I have taken a serious interest in alternative energy and the effects and depletion of fossil fuels. We are currently living in an era where we are some of the last consumers of fossil fuels. As many people already know fossil fuel is a non-renewable source, which means once it has been depleted it’s gone forever. Unlike fossil fuel--ethanol is a biofuel that can be used as an additive to gasoline, which is then used as a fuel, and is a renewable source. Some previous background information includes: Bioethanol is a form of renewable energy that is produced from agricultural feedstocks such as: sugar cane, potato, and corn. Ethanol can also be derived from cellulosic materials such as: wood, grasses, and non-edible parts of plants. Questions I plan to answer are first: the general procedures/country regulations, cost of opening, and economic and environmental effects of plant production. Bioethanol was first used in the early twenties and thirties, with the introduction of the automobile industry in Brazil. Ethanol fuel production reached its highest point during the time after German submarines threatened oil supplies from their attacks. Many economist and environmentalists have concluded that we are currently nearing the depletion of fossil fuel permanently, while many nations have developed renewable energy systems that will survive this crisis on a global scale, and depend on ethanol fuel. Unlike fossil fuel, the scarcity of ethanol isn't a question. Global petroleum reserves are estimated at 2.2 trillion barrels of oil left, while the projected future is approximated at an 80 million barrel per day figure. Using ethanol as fuel not only creates local benefits, but most importantly global benefits. Carbon dioxide (CO2) is the primary greenhouse gas that is responsible for global warming. Other responsible gasses include nitrous oxide and methane. When carbon is released into the atmosphere after being stored within the earth (fossil fuel being burned) CO2 is produced. Studies have shown that when corn-based ethanol is burned instead of gasoline greenhouse gas emissions are reduced by 19% to 52% (Ethanol Greenhouse Gas Emissions). However, if cellulosic ethanol is burned, the greenhouse reduction is even greater--86% (Ethanol Greenhouse Gas Emissions). Before an investor invests his/her money into a company, he/she wants to know the feasibility of investing in that company. Throughout this section the necessary steps that need to be taken into consideration before one opens an ethanol plant will be addressed and outlined which include: pre-feasibility study, detailed technical and engineering analysis, initial environmental analysis, business plan development, including risk management, marketing plan development, and site selection. Having a project team that is structured in a way where everyone has their specific job that requires research in that particular field is very vital to open a plant. After this steering organization of interested parties has been organized--creating public awareness of the proposed project should be done. Creating public awareness can be done in many different ways. “Media announcements of public information meetings, news letters, newspaper articles and other low-cost or no-cost announcements can be utilized” (A Guide for Evaluation the Requirements of Ethanol Plants). By creating a public awareness of the project the project team will be able to conclude whether there is an interest in the project, which could potentially increase the pool of people who may be able to assist the effort. After public awareness has been created and the pool of interested people has increased--an initial assessment of ethanol production economics and project viability in a specific