It is now time for your team to compile a qualitative list of the energy inputs that are required to grow corn and soybeans, and to convert these grains into ethanol and biodiesel fuels. You will be provided with appropriate forms on which these inputs should be entered (PDF file format: Form #1 and Form #2; DOC file format: Form #1 and Form #2).

When your team has completed its lists of energy inputs using Forms #1 and #2, you should then compile a quantitative list of the energy outputs that can be derived from each of the two biofuels. These outputs should be listed on Form #3 (PDF file format: Form #3; DOC file format: Form #3). Next, compare your list with those generated by the other teams. When you are satisfied that your list is complete and does not contain extraneous items, present them to your instructor who will, as Professor McCleish would for Mary and Dan, provide you with the numbers, i.e., the quantitative values, that you need.

The quantitative values that you enter on Form #3 provide you with the numbers that you need to carry out your relative efficiency calculations for the two biofuels. The net energy value (energy in minus energy out, EIEO) that you obtain for each of the biofuels will allow you to determine each fuel’s energy efficiency percentage, which is the information that Senator Worden needs. Your calculations should be performed and entered on Form #4 (PDF file format: Form #4; DOC file format: Form #4).

Questions

1. In the event that your calculations do not indicate that Senator Worden’s favored corn-to-ethanol process is more efficient than the alternative soybean-to-biodiesel process, which of the following paths do you believe that Senator Worden should take?
   1. Ignore Mary and Dan’s data completely.
   2. Accept the students’ data and switch his support from the ethanol process to the biodiesel route.
   3. Accept that the data favor the biodiesel route, but argue that factors (political, environmental, economic, etc.) other than just energy efficiency must be considered when making this policy decision, and that these other factors favor the ethanol route.
2. The traditional route for the manufacture of glycerol is based on the reaction of water with a chemical called epichlorohydrin. In addition to glycerol, hydrochloric acid, a strong acid, is also formed in this reaction.
   1. Would you expect the formation of biodiesel from soybeans to impact the viability of this process?
   2. “Green” chemical processes are those that have a minimal impact on the environment. Which route to the formation of glycerol, biodiesel or epichlorohydrin is more “green”? Explain your reasoning.
3. What societal consequences would result if increasingly large amounts of corn and/or soybeans are used for the manufacture of biofuels?
4. Farmer’s organizations and large manufacturing corporations such as Monsanto and the Archer Daniels Midland Company lobby actively in support of grains to biofuels processes, whereas environmental groups are generally opposed to these processes. Explain the reason for these opposing views.

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