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Tacitus' Realm / Ethanol Fuel from Corn Faulted as ?Unsustainable Subsidized
« on: April 29, 2006, 08:59:00 AM »
There are alternatives coming down the pike. A canadian outfit is using recombinant-DNA derived enzymes to breakdown cellulose into sugars for fermentation. That way, you're using the entire corn plan rather than just the grain. (And that way you can use the grain for food and the rest of the plant for fuel.)
They're also talking about using perennials such as switchgrass or elephant grass instead of corn, because they require little cultivation.
An outfit called Changing World Technologies has a process that theoretically can make synthetic oil out of almost anything organic. They have a pilot plant in Missouri making oil out of turkey offal from a Conagra turkey processing plant. It's an expensive and energy-intensive process that has not gotten competitive with natural crude oil yet, but they're working on it.
Several other organics-to-oil technologies are being researched, but technical details are sketchy.
Texas A&M university is working on a process where organic matter is broken down by bacteria and the resulting runoff synthesized into alcohols of various kinds - not just ethanol. They are also working on a revolutionary new engine technology called Star Rotor that should triple the fuel efficiency of existing engines.
As long as the price of crude remains high everyone and his brother will be working on alternatives. What worries me most is that the race may be won by people trying to make tar sands or shale oil economic. Then we're still adding "New" carbon to the biosphere instead of reusing existing carbon, and global warming will continue.
They're also talking about using perennials such as switchgrass or elephant grass instead of corn, because they require little cultivation.
An outfit called Changing World Technologies has a process that theoretically can make synthetic oil out of almost anything organic. They have a pilot plant in Missouri making oil out of turkey offal from a Conagra turkey processing plant. It's an expensive and energy-intensive process that has not gotten competitive with natural crude oil yet, but they're working on it.
Several other organics-to-oil technologies are being researched, but technical details are sketchy.
Texas A&M university is working on a process where organic matter is broken down by bacteria and the resulting runoff synthesized into alcohols of various kinds - not just ethanol. They are also working on a revolutionary new engine technology called Star Rotor that should triple the fuel efficiency of existing engines.
As long as the price of crude remains high everyone and his brother will be working on alternatives. What worries me most is that the race may be won by people trying to make tar sands or shale oil economic. Then we're still adding "New" carbon to the biosphere instead of reusing existing carbon, and global warming will continue.