Biogasoline/petrol?

[clutch-monkey]

i liked the idea of the algae which produces ethanol or something, how they could grow it in salt/crappy water (i.e. not affecting water supply) on land not useful for anything else (hey..we have lots of that)

[NSXType-R]

We have plenty to feed the population. We actually have so much corn that even with the boom in ethanol we still feed more corn to cows than we do to people.

And i dunno about it taking valuable growing land from other crops. Where the corn growing is good its basically corn, soy beans, and milo. Corn is king because soy beans and milo arent very valuable plants. When was the last time you sat down for some milo soup or something? haha

But then have you noticed how much more expensive each bushel of corn got in the last couple of months?

[MRR]

i liked the idea of the algae which produces ethanol or something, how they could grow it in salt/crappy water (i.e. not affecting water supply) on land not useful for anything else (hey..we have lots of that)

Its not even ethanol you get out of it (you can but the alternative is better). You can refine the algae oil into GASOLINE (not ethanol, clean-renewable 91+ octane petrol fuel). In fact the company below is beginning to produce a "bio-crude" which like crude petroleum oil can be refined into fuels, petrochemicals, plastic compounds, etc (goes right into existing refineries).

Sapphire Energy - The Story


Corn ethanol will not work for the simple reason that you only get a measly 18-34 gallons/acre/year (70-130 L/acre/year for the rest of us who aren't stuck with our dumb English system). Algae oil has theoretical yields somewhere between 10,000-100,000 gallons (39,000-390,000 L/acre/year) The estimates still vary widely but even worst case scenario it yields thousands of more gallons per acre than even the best alternative crop (like soy or rapeseed). Unfortunately until the oil and ethanol lobbies die off on Capitol Hill I don't see any meaningful change towards the obvious biofuel solution.

[MRR]

Another company is trying to use genetically modified bacteria with a variety of feedstocks to produce "designer bio-fuels" i.e. gasoline, diesel, jetfuel, etc.

http://ls9.com/

This shows a huge amount of promise as well and maybe algae and bacteria could supplement each other in the production of biofuels.

[clutch-monkey]

i like the idea of burning ethanol (heh maybe methanol) better than gasoline. just do

[Jax]

Alternative source No.1 methane hydrate! 5000 gigatons enough for everyone!!!!!!!!!!!

[IBrake4Rainbows]

Common misconception/media brainwashing. There are almost big time corporate farms here in nebraska. The story might be different elsewhere but steps have been taken out here to avoid that very thing. Every single farmer i know (most of my friends) owns their own farm entirely or owns some land and rents some land.

I wasnt talking about owning the land, I was talking about where these farmers get the seeds for their products.

There is a noted move by many involved in things called "Seedbanks" to protect diversity in crops. When every farmer is asked to grow a particular product because it's what their buyers want, diversity is lost.

Im just saying, with the soil and the weather out here its corn, soybeans, and milo. Corn is king because its much more useful all around than soybeans and milo are.

No one is doubting it's the right thing to grow - after all, Nebraska is known for corn, no?

[MRR]

i like the idea of burning ethanol (heh maybe methanol) better than gasoline. just do

Why? Gasoline contains far more energy per unit of volume than any alcohol based fuels. There is a reason the world has used it for more than 100 years over hooch you can ferment in your backyard.

[clutch-monkey]

brazil manages fine with ethanol..?
doesn't ethanol burn hotter with a cooling effect on the cylinders..

[jonbyrd]

Water fuel:alternate method helps the car in saving 80 percent of fuel on heat, pollution and vibration.

Drive water is another alternate method to save fuel. It uses car battery to separate water into a vapory form called HHO that is hydrogen in two parts and oxygen in one. Engines running on this fuel alternative method power themselves.

Types Of Alternate Methods And Its Uses:

Another substitute to save fuel is Zero emission gas. Fuel emission vehicles are produced by filling them with pure hydrogen. This substitute fuel saving method is used to power electric equipment.

Here, hydrogen has to be stored in its liquid form. Liquid hydrogen is very cold. The electricity generated from battery powers the motor of your vehicle. Fuel cells combine oxygen in the air with hydrogen to produce electricity.

Another alternate method is the use of methanol. There is no need to separate hydrogen from methanol, as fuel cell vehicles turn hydrogen and oxygen into electricity


<a href="http://www.waterfuelkit.net">free tips on alternative for fuel</a>

[MRR]

Second although it may work in some cars ethanol requires larger fuel injectors because of its lower energy density (more fuel needed and therefore shorter range on a tank).

Ethanol is soluble with water and because of its water content is corrosive to existing fuel lines in your car. It is terrible for a fuel distribution infrastructure because it can't go into the oil pipelines because of its corrosive properties. In general is an inferior fuel to gasoline for normal road use.

It requires a huge amount of land to produce as well and even with Brazil's vastly improved methods of producing ethanol from sugarcane they still have to cut down thousands of acres of rainforest a year and thereby irreversibly damaging the planet's ability to absorb CO2 emissions.

[clutch-monkey]

well the whole point is to use the algae to produce it...

[roosterjuicer]

I wasnt talking about owning the land, I was talking about where these farmers get the seeds for their products.

There is a noted move by many involved in things called "Seedbanks" to protect diversity in crops. When every farmer is asked to grow a particular product because it's what their buyers want, diversity is lost.



No one is doubting it's the right thing to grow - after all, Nebraska is known for corn, no?

The great thing is that there are hundreds of different companies that produce seed corn and corn seeds and hundreds of different varieties of corn. They are all in competition to make the best, hardiest, most diverse corn out there and we the consumer benefit from it.

interestingly nebraska actually used to be known as the beef state until through marketing texas became known for it. but yea nebraska is known as the corn state and our football team is the cornhuskers. But nebraska is actually both the #1 beef producing state and #1 corn producing state.

[MRR]

well the whole point is to use the algae to produce it...

The oil the algae produce is either a biodiesel or crude replacement depending on the strain. The leftover biomass can be fermented into ethanol but my point was that that the oil it produces can be refined into gasoline which is a fundamentally superior fuel to ethanol.

[IBrake4Rainbows]

The great thing is that there are hundreds of different companies that produce seed corn and corn seeds and hundreds of different varieties of corn. They are all in competition to make the best, hardiest, most diverse corn out there and we the consumer benefit from it.

Tell me, with a spin like that, do you perhaps work for one of these companies

the main reason companies do anything is that they can profit from it, so if they can spend money on R&D to make a product thats hardy when combined with their chemicals, sold to their suppliers & used by their preferred supermarkets, etc, they make money off it.

I doubt the consumer is there biggest interest in this particular field