Diversified Ethanol Provides Small Scale Ethanol Plants Using Highly Efficient Waste

Minneapolis, MN - A state of the art waste to ethanol process was recently introduced by Diversified Ethanol Corporation, a clean tech provider. Diversified Ethanol designs and builds small scale, modular ethanol plants that utilize existing waste as feedstocks which can be converted into ethanol. For example, using their proprietary technology, breweries, beverage recycling and food processing facilities can now convert their liquid waste into ethanol providing a new revenue stream for their businesses.

The company's award winning "Butterfield Closed Cycle System"utilizes several technologies, including Greenbelt Resources ElectroHesion, a proprietary water recycling system that reduces water use by up to 85%. ElectroHesion effectively separates the solids from the process water, insuring that the majority of the water can be infinitely recycled. The unique design of the ElectroHesion uses a single chamber, continuous flow through design that can treat from 10 to 2500 gallons per minute and uses a fraction of the electrical energy required by other systems.

Diversified Ethanol's innovative technologies provide solutions to two of the biggest challenges facing conventional ethanol production: the extensive use of water and the expensive, fuel intensive, crop-based feedstocks such as corn. The "Butterfield Closed Cycle System" & the ElectroHesion™ system solves both problems by recycling most of the water and converting existing and inexpensive waste to ethanol.

"According to a recent article in USA Today, city officials in Champaign and Urbana, IL were concerned when a proposed ethanol plant nearby would require about 300 million gallons of water for processing the product and cooling equipment, drawing from the aquifer that supplies both cities," said Vint Lewis, Greenbelt's Vice President of Marketing. "If an ethanol plant was using the ElectroHesion system, they would be saving up to 89% of water usage which is utilized in the Diversified Ethanol's plants."

Vint continued, "Furthermore, recent studies quoted by Science and other sources are now reporting that conventional ethanol production actually contributes more greenhouse gases than gasoline when you factor in land use and the fuel intensive growing of crop based feedstocks. Also adding to fuel cost is the necessity to truck that ethanol across country from the Midwest to the markets on the east and west coasts. However, most of these same studies conclude that ethanol from waste is still a viable alternative and Diversified Ethanol will be building plants through out the U.S. in the near future."

There is a growing interest in on-site waste to ethanol production technologies that can convert waste products into ethanol. From citrus waste in Florida & California, to potato waste in Idaho or brewery waste to name only a few products the company is currently addressing as each part of the county has waste streams that can be converted to ethanol. This trend toward using various waste products for ethanol eliminates the use of fossil fuel intensive crop based feedstocks. Furthermore, being localized, these systems also remove the need to ship the ethanol across country, further increasing the efficiency of these sources of alternative energy.

"This represents a major breakthrough in Ethanol production, significantly reducing water usage and addressing one of the primary community concerns regarding ethanol plants," says Bob Johnson, CEO of both Greenbelt Resources & Diversified Ethanol. "And using existing waste products as feedstock and delivering Ethanol directly to local communities, eliminates the problems associated with the more fuel intensive crop based feedstocks, and more effectively reduces greenhouse gases."

SOURCE: Diversified Ethanol Corporation