Re: [AMC-list] hydrogen-powered Gremlin for sale...

[adh@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx (Sandwich Maker)]

" From: Jim Blair <carnuck@xxxxxxxxxxx>
" 
" 
" Switchgrass is the way to go according to some farming experts.
" Especially with new technologies for extracting alcohol.

yeah; that's fermentation that can handle cellulose and not just
starch.  afaik they're still aiming for ethanol though, and while i'm
not convinced butanol is the ultimate answer i do believe it's a much
better answer than ethanol, since it's a 'drop-in' conversion for
almost every car on the road today.  only a tiny minority can burn
e85.

" Leftovers from the corn processing are now being used to produce
" bagasse for paper plates that are totally biodegradable.

and work is being done to find uses for glycerol from biodiesel
production, perhaps as an organic-plastic feedstock.

" Jim Blair, Lynnwood, WA '87 Comanche, '83 Jeep J10, '84 Jeep J10
" 
" From: Frank Swygert <farna@xxxxxxx>
"  
" The real problem here is that none of the guys doing the talking are farmers. Certain plants are easier to produce alcohol from and would be much easier than corn -- sugar cane and sugar beets are probably the most efficient as far as amount of product produced and ease of extraction. Corn takes more energy to produce alcohol from, but is more widely frown. Can't grow sugar cane just anywhere, needs to be near tropical. I'm not sure about sugar beets, but they have certain environmental needs too, and then there is harvesting -- big investment in mechanical harvesters that only work for the beets.
"  
" As far as I know most of the studies are based on corn production as that's the most commonly used plant. Why? The US grows a lot and often has a surplus. In the past the surplus has offset the production costs, and not that much was used. Now that there is a higher demand the extraction process has been improved, but sugar beets and sugar cane are still better. Brazil often had a surplus in sugar cane, one of their main cash crops, so using alcohol as an alternative fuel works real good for them! Still took 10+ years to build a fairly decent infrastructure, and lots of government encouragement (subsidies... tax money...).
________________________________________________________________________
Andrew Hay                                  the genius nature
internet rambler                            is to see what all have seen
adh@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx                       and think what none thought
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