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Ethanol was first used to power a primitive engine in 1826. Later, Nicholas Otto used it to power his invention of the modern day 4 cycle engine. It was also used as a lighting fuel in the 1800s. Ethanol lost popularity during the Civil War when the government began to tax it as liquor. Then, in 1908, Henry Ford designed a version of the Model T that could burn ethanol. Demand for ethanol fuel grew during World War II because fossil fuels were becoming difficult to come by. Popularity further increased in the 1970s due to environmental concerns about leaded gasoline. The modern ethanol industry really started in the early 2000s as development processes quickly advanced to improve efficiency and quality.

Ethanol is made from corn- when the starches are digested into sugar and enzymes and yeast are added to produce ethanol. But doesn’t that mean the corn we and animals eat is being used to produce fuel? No. The majority of corn you see growing in Wisconsin is the kind used for animal feed, not the sweet corn we eat.  This is the type of corn used in ethanol production. Only one-third of a corn kernel is starch and can be used to make ethanol. One-third is turned into distillers grains – a high protein animal feed. Another third is used to produce CO2 for the production of beer, soda, dry ice and to reduce oxygen in packaging. Another byproduct from this process is corn oil. Corn oil is then turned into biodiesel.

Credit: ethanolrfa.org

The majority of ethanol is produced in the Midwest. There are nine ethanol plants in Wisconsin. Together Wisconsin plants produce 650 million gallons of fuel per year. They create an economic impact of $4 billion a year to our economy. These plants continue to research innovative ways to produce a more refined product. One plant is looking into using the corn fiber to make ethanol.