Posted on 05/16/2008 2:49:59 PM PDT by Kevin J waldroup
Two recently released genome studies are expected to provide answers to how to bolster the production of ethanol from corn and biomass.
(Excerpt) Read more at ethanolproducer.com ...
Oh good:
Let’s fine-tune a really really stupid idea!
ping
Fantastic. Even the morons in Congress are pulling out of ethanol deals, meanwhile, someone is stille doing “research”.
Perhaps that’s because they’re morons.
Sounds like an entirely worthy topic for research, to me. Brazil has made a go of ethanol, due to widespread availability of sugarcane, a superior feedstock. I've read that sorghum comes close, and can grow in many areas of the US. Optimizing the process will yield a better product for a better price. Farmland in the US is not even close to fully utilized. Ideally, though, the process would not involve competing with food, as is currently occurring with ethanol from corn. I'm glad they're still pursuing this, myself. The sooner we're not literally over a barrel with hostile nations for our fuel supply, the better.
1. Where will the water come from for greatly expanded crop lands?
2. If a significant percentage of the nation's fuel needs have become dependent on bio-fuels what happens to the economy if there is a major crop failure?
Not all arable land is in arid or semi-arid areas, so irrigation does not have to enter into the equation. The water could come from the sky, in the form of rain, if the biofuel farms were properly located. The southeastern coastal plain would be one good example, and with the ongoing demise of tobacco as a cash crop, there will be capacity. As far as a major crop failure, there is risk there, true. Something akin to the current strategic reserve would likely be in order, to mitigate the possibility. This sort of thing isn’t going to be up and running full speed for many years, though, and is not likely to fully replace oil pumped from the ground on its own. There will need to be an all-out effort to do that, involving construction of new nuclear plants, drilling our own reserves in the US, the conversion of agricultural waste byproducts into fuels, etcetera. But, I don’t know if the current price shock will be sufficient to de-politicize the whole thing enough to get it going.
Something akin to the current strategic reserve would likely be in order, to mitigate the possibility.
With petroleoum that means storing the raw material petroleum which is often done by pumping it into natural underground vaults. It is far more of a problem to store large quantities of ethanol which is much more flammable and would require above ground storage tanks. If the answer is storing the raw materials for bio-fuels you run into more problems with the huge volume it would be and with keeping them from rotting.
Could be salt-water, partially-treated wastewater, or unpotable water that the new bioengineered bacteria could use to make the sugars for ethanol, but is unfit for food crops.
2. If a significant percentage of the nation's fuel needs have become dependent on bio-fuels what happens to the economy if there is a major crop failure?
These new techniques would probably use clear pipes to grow and filter bioengineered bacteria and its sucrose product rather than be plants in the ground taking up space, subject to pests, disease and weather. Just keep it from freezing or boiling and you're good to go.
Large swathes of farmland, from southside Virginia on around to Georgia and Alabama have not just laid fallow, but are slowly becoming reforested. The areas I’m speaking of are poor, not near a city or airport, and have been left behind by the modern economy. What non-agricultural employment there was, was manufacturing, mainly textiles ... gone now. The land is cheap, and yes, it’s not being well utilized.
As far as the challenges of storage, I’d imagine the current strategic reserve sounded implausible at first, too. .
So we're not talking about crops here. Interesting concept. It would still take up a lot of space somewhere.
Perhaps. The underground vaults were right under their noses though and known due to the geological studies done to get the petroleum in the first place. Speculating that there was a challenge to overcome in the past isn't an answer to a present challenge though.
Prepackaged solutions don’t come all packaged and wrapped up with a pretty bow, unfortunately. If you’re perseverating on storage problems for a strategic reserve of biofuels, it sounds like you’re not entirely bearish on the biofuels themselves, though.
I take it you’re not comfortable with questions about how this will all work. I’m certainly not too bullish (bearish means negative) about a major system of fuel production that isn’t open to inquiry about its specific means. I wouldn’t invest in it on that basis. As long as the industry isn’t asking for a dime of taxpayer funding I have no problem with it.
FWIW you brought up strategic reserves not me.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.