Sorry, in my discussion of biomass, I did not mention US and world energy use for comparison or Brazil.
Brazil could provide itself with the energy it uses from biomass. According to http://www.odci.gov/cia/publications/factbook/print/br.html Brazil has 60 million hectares of arable land. This means a possible biomass output of 12 x 10^18 joules (12 Exajoules) per year. Currently, Brazil consumes about 5 Exajoules/year of oil. (The other energy sources listed by the CIA are much smaller.) So, Brazil should be able both to feed itself and provide itself with enough energy. The United States is another matter. In 2000, the US consumed about 10^20 joules of marketed energy , i.e. a rate of 100 Exajoules per year or 3.29 terawatts. (I cannot remember my source.) If it uses all its arable land for biomass, and grows nothing for food, it could produce approximate 36 Exajoules per year. According to http://www.eia.doe.gov/oiaf/ieo/world.html Global energy use in 2001 was 404 quadrillion British thermal units (Btu) or 422 Exajoules, a rate of 13 terawatts This is a terawatt higher than total (marketed) global energy use in 1995, which was 383 Exajoules or 12 terawatts, according to http://www.cpast.org/Articles/fetch.adp?topicnum=13 My understanding is that about 5.5 million Exajoules of sunlight strike the upper atmosphere of the Earth each year and about 250,000 Exajoules of that make it to Earth's surface. -- Robert J. Chassell [EMAIL PROTECTED] GnuPG Key ID: 004B4AC8 http://www.rattlesnake.com http://www.teak.cc _______________________________________________ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
