[extropy-chat] cheap alcohol

[Robert Lindauer]

So what you're saying is that despite the fact that it is a clean, 
readily available and renewable energy resource for which we currently 
have sufficient technology to continue producing it cheaply and 
effectively, it's not perfect.

Okay, I get it.

Robbie


Eugen Leitl wrote:

>On Wed, Sep 21, 2005 at 07:11:52AM -1000, Robert Lindauer wrote:
>
>  
>
>>Why is ethanol such a bad idea?
>>    
>>
>
>Because bioethanol utilizes only a tiny fraction of energy captured
>in plant biomass on a given land area. You need fermentation of sugar
>(direct, or from hydrolyzed cellulose), and destillation. Lousy
>yield, and takes energy as input. Negative impact on soil and biodiversity.
>Details e.g. here:
>
>    http://www.biodiesel.co.uk/levington_tables.htm
>
>Both biodiesel and bioethanol are primitive (derived from alimentary
>agriculture: plant oil and destilled spirits) ways of extracting
>energy from biomass.
>
>A better way would be using pelletized fuel burners, or 
>pyrolyse/gasify/reform/platform biomass into gases and liquids
>useful for synthetic chemistry and energy generation (fuel cell or
>gas turbine).
>
>This is *still* primitive, though, because a more advanced
>process would directly use solar flux for artificial photosynthesis/
>photovoltaics, and at a higher yield than natural photosynthesis.
>
>  
>
>------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>_______________________________________________
>extropy-chat mailing list
>extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org
>http://lists.extropy.org/mailman/listinfo/extropy-chat
>  
>