Re: [Amc-list] The Pickens Plan (not)

[Frank Swygert <farna@xxxxxxx>]

I'm thinking short term and economically viable right now. Biomass production still needs a lot of technology innovation and an easy source of bio material. Ethanol production from corn hasn't made food prices go up directly because "sweet corn" is what humans eat, "field corn" is used for ethanol and livestock feed. My brother is a chicken farmer, and the feed plant had a hard time even getting corn this past year at times. Prices for foodstuff will go up indirectly as livestock feed costs go up due to the big demand for corn for ethanol. There's only so much arable land that's economically feasible to raise crops on. Sure, ethanol production doesn't use all the corn -- the "residue" can be used for making feed. But the feed is lower quality and has to have more (and more expensive) supplements added to it, so it still costs more for the user. 

Now the way chickens are raised the feed is provided by the dressing plant ("integrator"), as are the baby chicks (this is for "broiler" growing, not laying hens). So bro isn't directly affected, but the farmers haven't had a raise in years. The lowest person on the production pole is the last to see any benefit in higher prices. Prices go up due to cost incurred by the integrator. The only thing bro has seen from it is a "fuel bonus" during the winter months due to the high cost of propane. If not for that a lot of farmers would have just give up growing chickens, and the integrator can't survive without farmers, so they paid for some of their fuel. 

Isn't this the AMC list? Oh yeah, I explained all that to illustrate a potential problem with biomass fuels (and a very big short term problem), and AMCs do use fuel... 

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Date: Mon, 8 Sep 2008 16:10:28 -0400 (EDT)
From: adh@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx (Sandwich Maker)


" From: Frank Swygert <farna@xxxxxxx>
" 
" 
" I just wonder if butanol can be derived from natural gas? Hydrogen is
" derived from natural gas now, as that's more efficient than "cracking"
" water molecules (see the Honda Hydrogen car site... search on the
" net). Natural gas isn't a real efficient mobile fuel source, but
" changing it into something better might be a good idea -- the US
" supposedly has large natural gas reserves... 

sure, it -could- be made from natural gas, but i think a biogenic
source would be a better overall goal.  save that gas for fixed uses
like home heat and cooking!

-- 
Frank Swygert
Publisher, "American Motors Cars" 
Magazine (AMC)
For all AMC enthusiasts
http://farna.home.att.net/AMC.html
(free download available!)

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