Re: Someone got it right

Harry K wrote: 
Leif Erikson wrote:

Vic Dura wrote:

Quoting from:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060105/sc_nm/energy_biofuels_oxburgh_dc;_ylt=Ak0_uREmr1BFJrlo.aPHPWqs0NUE;_ylu=X3oDMTA3MzV0MTdmBHNlYwM3NTM-

Lord Oxburgh pointed to the production of ethanol from waste straw in
Canada as one example of a project which was energy efficient and had
environmental benefits.

By way of contrast, he said the most expensive method was being
employed in the United States using maize, which consumes an enormous
amount of energy before being turned into fuel.




Straw produces 60 gals. ethanol per ton.

Corn (maize) produces 60 gals. ethanol per ton.

Now why does one require more energy than the other?







"You put in nearly as much energy into producing energy than you get
out of it. It doesn't actually make a lot of sense," he said.
--
To email me directly, remove CLUTTER.



I had to think abouit that before the light dawned.  To grow any crop
to be used for ethanol will require almost or more energy all told
(fertilizer, fuel, etc) than will be recovered.  In the case of straw,
it is a waste product that has already been produced thus effectively
cost nothing to produce.  Kind of an odd way to look at it but I can
see the point.

Just saw in the paper that a new plant is being developed locally to
produce bio diesel from oil from seeds (canola and the like).  Initial
plans are to import at least 50% of the oil from Canada until local
farmers plant enough to supply the plant.

Harry K


There are almost as many ways to calculate the energy efficiency of corn-to-ethanol as there are people with an axe to grind. Most of the differences depend on where you start counting energy inputs. I think the only way it is even profitable for the ethanol plant to run is that we have a cheap food policy which keeps the price of corn low and agricultural policies which ensure that the supply is greater than the demand.

It's hard to call straw a waste product when it has so many other uses. Bedding for livestock, providing extra fiber in high-grain feed rations for cattle, plowing back into the soil to increase the organic matter, etc. But it makes more sense to use it for ethanol production than to use the grain. And of course corn stalks and cobs are also waste products which might be used as well if it were practical to collect and transport them.

--
-----------------------------------------------------------
The ultimate test of a moral society is the kind of world
that it leaves to its children.
-----------------------------------------------------------
.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: press release on important new survey of biofuels...
    ... > fuel ethanol could come to such different conclusions about the overall ... > energy balance in its production and use. ... corn gluten feed and corn oil - that boost the ...
    (uk.politics.misc)
  • Re: WARNING: POLITICAL (youve been warned)
    ... production platforms and/or sea-bed remote production well heads ... And at some point it takes as much energy to get the stuff to the ... surface mix of gas oil and water; the max. selling price of crude oil ... we are with respect to ethanol. ...
    (rec.music.makers.guitar.acoustic)
  • Re: Biofuels will just use up our oil even faster
    ... it takes more energy to make ethanol than you get back ... production actually increases our need for oil and gas imports, ... More energy is needed to turn the corn into fuel. ...
    (sci.energy)
  • Re: Cellulosic Ethanol
    ... >more energy than it consumes. ... >correspondingly lower refined ethanol prices. ... >> Even with such high yields, when one takes into account the amount of ... >How much land area do we waste by paying farmers not to work or by throwing ...
    (sci.energy)
  • Re: World energy system should be based on alcohol
    ... Waste cheese permeate, corn stover processed with cellulase, weeds, ... You can burn a blend of ethanol and other biofuels, ... > the energy generated by its combustion. ...
    (sci.energy)
Loading