NationStates Jolt Archive

People diss Ethanol as a solution to our energy woes because of the amount of energy put into it to produce it.

But suppose you could generate 4 to 10 times as much ethanol with that same energy input? Can it happen? Read this:

http://msnbc.msn.com/id/12676374/?GT1=8199

I smell homegrown gas. :)

And you can turn into a useful beverage ... try that with oil.

This looks like a brilliant idea.

Huh? This article said absolutely nothing. Or rather it's misleading. It showed the very expensive and energy intensive method of corn ethanol production used in the United States, then it switched to Brazillian sugar cane ethanol which is the cheapest method and far cheaper than corn, and then magically we're told cheap ethanol will come from prarie grass. The only problem is we can't actually make ethanol from prarie grass at the moment. If it was possible then people would be using prarie grass now instead of corn. They should show us the process that can cheaply make ethanol from prarie grass but they say nothing.

But then, what do I know? I'm just a racist honkey.

And you can turn into a useful beverage ... try that with oil.

I've tried. I can confirm that it doesn't work.

People diss Ethanol as a solution to our energy woes because of the amount of energy put into it to produce it.

But suppose you could generate 4 to 10 times as much ethanol with that same energy input? Can it happen? Read this:

http://msnbc.msn.com/id/12676374/?GT1=8199

I smell homegrown gas. :)
I one of the people who diss ethanol, but I think you misunderstand the point and this post is proof of that. Ethanol and biodiesel will be used as energy sources. In fact, in the coming years, as fossil fuels wane, we'll be scraping everything together that we can to try to maintain our easy motering lifestyle, but it won't work. You say we can get 4 to 10 times as much energy out of the process as we put in, even if this were true and we were able to do this right now it's a pitance. In the early days of oil we got as much as 100 times as much energy out as we put in. That's a 10,000% gain on energy invested. Some people put that number as high as 20,000%. Today, estimates vary but they say we are getting as much as 1,200% gain on return. Think of the difference. Can new technology catch up to the gains you get from oil? I doubt it and in any case the entire scenario is different. Oil STARTED with a 10,000% to 20,000% gain and has fallen. You are trying to wok in the opposite direction with biofuels. We'll use them, but the society we'll be using them to fuel with not be the energy rich society we have become accustomed to.

This is hardly recent news...:confused: I don't mean this article, which was published yesterday. I mean the concept and such.