http://i-r-squared.blogspot.com/2006/11 ... check.htmlhttp://bioconversion.blogspot.com/frankly i would be greatly impressed if anyone out there can get 70gal of clean, pump ready ethanol/ton of biomass. this would be a major improvement to the ~9gal/ton that exists now before adding all the costs to grow, transport, process and pump it.
a typical ton of biomass = ~13mBTU.
a typical gal of ethanol = ~75000BTU.
even at the 'theoretical limit' is reported to be 114gal/ton x 75000 = 8550000/13000000 = 65% of the energy is somehow wasted and this is the theoretical limit. so lets say that they can only do 75% of the limit due to 'conditions on the ground' = 85.5gal/ton would be a target #. so real world target would = 6412500BTU harvest/ton. less than 50% energy return on feedstock.
going further down the energy chain, we have the inefficiency of the combustion engine. ~ 25% efficient. and because of regulations of emissions and the gadgets that are needed to reduce pollution, that 25% is further reduced by 10%. i wont even add in coldstarts, the energy to make the motor and the lifespan of said motor and all the other inefficient ways that this system sux. we are now down to ~11%. so 11% of the energy from the original biomass is actually used to do actual work. and i have rounded up, infavor of the benefit of the doubt.
by the way, transportation fuel is only 25% of all the BTU's used by the USA. the elephant in the room is coal. ethanol does nothing for that but we seem to have already used up all the farmland...
the beauty of cellulosic ethanol is that all cellulosic biomass can be used. the curse of cellulosic ethanol is that ALL cellulosic biomass can be used. what is going back into the soil? how long before the rainforests are harvested for biomass energy? how long before everysquare inch of land is being sucked of energy and life by humans?
there is 2 solution to this mess. 1, figure out a better way to extract energy outta the feedstock (which ethanol cannot do because of its limitations). 2, to produce MASSIVE amounts of cellulosic biomass/acre so that the inefficiencies of the harvesting energy outta the feedstock is mitigated. in walks algae...but the infrastructure needed to ramp that kinda production is so very far down the road.
so in summery; i am very sceptical of the 70gal/ton Iogen claims. and even if they are correct, this still doesnt solve the problem that the world has. and the closer it becomes to being a reality, the worse the earth groans... i agree, cellulosic ethanol is 'snake oil'!
Those that live by the sword, die by the sword. Id rather die of cholesterol from all the butter Im making and selling... froggy in Wisconsin
This is an interesting blog and the two of them are pretty serious about ethanol from algae. Read more at
http://www.biodieselnow.com/forums/p/5014/137142.aspxChennai102