Alliant Energy cuts ethanol production cost by 16 cents per gallon through new biomass-to-steam process

Alliant Energy announced a partnership with IPL and Harris Companies to cut energy consumption at ethanol plants in half, through improved biomass steam technology. The process recycles ethanol residue and other byproducts as fuel for steam production.

Alliant said that the process could save up to 16 cents per gallon in ethanol production costs.

The potential of utilizing residual biomass for steam production to save power consumption is a key feature of most sugar cane ethanol plants, where the leftover bagasse is burned to produce electricity. However, it is less typical for other feedstocks.

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