1. How much gasoline can ethanol replace? Assume the US consumes 100 quads of energy annually. 28 quads are used for transportation; 17 of the 28 quads are gasoline (2009, [1]). To reduce our dependence on foreign oil, we could devote more cropland to dedicated energy crops. Assume the Conservation Reserve Program has 24 million acres of land available (2017, [2]). Watch your units!! a. If the CRP cropland is planted to corn and has a very high production rate of 4000L of ethanol per hectare (unlikely since most CRP land is marginal), how many quads can be produced? [3] b. If a cellulosic fermentation is used, a production rate of 6000L/ha (3] is possible (again, unlikely). How many quads would this produce? C. Current US production of ethanol is 15.5 billion gal/yr (2017, [4]). What is the equivalent measurement in quads? What percentage of the quads of gasoline consumed could this replace? d. The US exports 2.1 billion bushels of corn per year (2017, [6]). If every other country became self-sufficient in food production and we stopped exporting corn, how many equivalent quads of ethanol could we make? Current yield of ethanol is 2.8 gal/bushel (2014, [5]). One bushel of corn weighs 56 lbs at 15.5% moisture. e. If the US devoted all of its corn production to ethanol, how many equivalent quads of energy could we make? 15.1 billion bushels were produced in 2017 (6). f. Consider the sum of part a and part e. The ratio of (energy obtained from ethanol) to the (energy consumed in its production) is 1.3 ([3]). What would be the net production of energy in quads? g. What sounds more feasible? Producing one quad of ethanol fuel or reducing consumption of energy by one quad? h. Provide criticism of this analysis. i. Provide suggestions on how to improve the way we produce ethanol. Provide comments on the problem. 1. How much gasoline can ethanol replace? Assume the US consumes 100 quads of energy annually. 28 quads are used for transportation; 17 of the 28 quads are gasoline (2009, [1]). To reduce our dependence on foreign oil, we could devote more cropland to dedicated energy crops. Assume the Conservation Reserve Program has 24 million acres of land available (2017, [2]). Watch your units!! a. If the CRP cropland is planted to corn and has a very high production rate of 4000L of ethanol per hectare (unlikely since most CRP land is marginal), how many quads can be produced? [3] b. If a cellulosic fermentation is used, a production rate of 6000L/ha (3] is possible (again, unlikely). How many quads would this produce? C. Current US production of ethanol is 15.5 billion gal/yr (2017, [4]). What is the equivalent measurement in quads? What percentage of the quads of gasoline consumed could this replace? d. The US exports 2.1 billion bushels of corn per year (2017, [6]). If every other country became self-sufficient in food production and we stopped exporting corn, how many equivalent quads of ethanol could we make? Current yield of ethanol is 2.8 gal/bushel (2014, [5]). One bushel of corn weighs 56 lbs at 15.5% moisture. e. If the US devoted all of its corn production to ethanol, how many equivalent quads of energy could we make? 15.1 billion bushels were produced in 2017 (6). f. Consider the sum of part a and part e. The ratio of (energy obtained from ethanol) to the (energy consumed in its production) is 1.3 ([3]). What would be the net production of energy in quads? g. What sounds more feasible? Producing one quad of ethanol fuel or reducing consumption of energy by one quad? h. Provide criticism of this analysis. i. Provide suggestions on how to improve the way we produce ethanol. Provide comments on the