NOVELTY - An integrated continuous process for the production of ethanol and energy involves fermenting a corn mash in an aqueous medium to produce a beer; distilling the beer to produce ethanol and a whole stillage; digesting a mixture containing whole stillage anaerobically to produce a biogas and a residue; combusting the bio-gas to produce electricity and steam; utilizing the electricity produced by the combustion during the steps of fermenting and distilling to produce ethanol; and utilizing the steam produced by the combustion during the step of fermenting the corn mash.    USE - For production of ethanol and energy (claimed).    ADVANTAGE - The anaerobic digestion (biological conversion of organic compounds to biogas or methane) of the whole stillage can generate more methane than the natural gas used in production of the ethanol. The excess methane can produce approximately 75% of the electricity required for ethanol production. The method increases the net energy value for ethanol by 9.6 times, significantly reduces the reliance of the ethanol industry on natural gas, and reduces the financial exposure of the ethanol industry to two commodities with volatile pricing, natural gas and distiller's dried grains and solubles (DDGS). The method reduces VOC (volatile organic compounds) emissions from ethanol facilities by eliminating the source of the VOC (i.e., drying the whole stillage) and reducing greenhouse gas emissions by creating the energy necessary for ethanol production from a renewable source (i.e., corn). It eliminates the need for natural gas in the ethanol production process and reduces the electrical requirement by 75%. The energy reduction is achieved because natural gas is produced internally in the process through anaerobic digestion and electricity is also produced internally to the process. The method does not produce cattle feed, does not need cattle or special barns and does not produce manure as an intermediate product. It mechanically separates the solids from the digested mixed liquor, sells the solids without drying, recovers the ammonia in a concentrated liquid using air stripping and air scrubbing, and recycles the recovered water. It uses the heat from combustion of the biogas to produce electricity for ethanol production, steam for ethanol production, and recovers waste heat from electricity production to heat the anaerobic digester. The anaerobic digestion of whole stillage for self-generation of energy for an ethanol facility has three major benefits: increased energy efficiency, reduced financial risk, and support of sustainable agriculture. The anaerobic digestion of whole stillage has the potential of producing as much as 11.6 mmBTU per dry ton of whole stillage. This is more than sufficient energy to produce the steam and 75% of the electricity used to produce that ton of stillage. The anaerobic conversion of whole stillage to energy increases the net energy value of a gallon of ethanol from 5880 BTUs (USDA value) to 56860 BTUs. Thus, anaerobic digestion of whole stillage represents a significant increase in the overall energy efficiency of the dry milling ethanol process. The anaerobic digestion of whole stillage with ammonia recovery allow for the use of nitrogen as a fertilizer without any phosphorus. The majority of the phosphorus contained in the whole stillage precipitated in the anaerobic digester. Thus, anaerobic digestion allows for nutrient waste recovery without the detrimental effects of over application of phosphorus.    DESCRIPTION OF DRAWING(S) - The figure shows a process of producing ethanol.