About a month ago, the thread below drew little interest here: primarily since "grain fuels" have gotten a bad rap from both sides of the aisle - so it is no surprise that environmentalists tend to be misled (by Big-Oil spin) about the importance of next-gen ethanol in our collective energy future. This alternative fuel is also known as "advanced cellulosic hydrous ethanol". It is too bad that it shares the name and connotation, since it is a different beast.
Let me say first of all, that there are several new technologies - which are far better than this one - being totally carbon-free alternatives and on the immediate horizon - and those are the real future of alternative energy . BUT even if they arrive from the Lab this year, there will be only modest effect on the larger economy for a decade. Algae-biodiesel is looking very good as an alternative, but it is not the immediate savior that next-gen ethanol can be . since in the big picture, change is never as rapid as it should be: paradigm shifts or mass production and new distribution channels take time to ramp up. Due to the fact that we already have a farm-to-pump infrastructure in place now for corn ethanol, and the additions needed to use cellulose are not severe, then it makes perfect sense that for the next 5-10 years- it will be in the best interest of the USA to strongly encourage farm-grown but non-food-based "advanced hydrous ethanol" PLUS to be used in hybrid autos. That combination can cut CO2 emission by 75% and make the USA self-sufficient in transportation fuel. Even partial progress towards that pairing can eliminate the need for OPEC oil imports. It is the only way to preserve the value of the dollar in international markets. Perhaps I should emphasize that "cellulosic ethanol" or "advanced hydrous ethanol" is the important new fuel - to distinguish the desirable 2nd Gen variant from its immediate progenitor: which an undesirable fuel consisting of blended gasoline with anhydrous (distilled) corn-based ethanol. What a joke. It almost seems that the bastardized fuel was invented by the Big-Oil+OPEC Cartel for the express purpose of wanting to quash alternatives to pure fossil fuel by making it inferior from the start, and then falsely claiming that it reduces food availability. As it turns out, 100% of the protein of corn when fermented, is retained in the Brewers yeast - which is the rich food byproduct of ethanol. In fact there is a slight gain in available protein by going this route. Anyway, here is the previous post (and as it turns out, the Chinese may not have the upper hand here): http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/msg30640.html Straight from Spud-country - some more and VERY important new R&D has confirmed the premise, going back years that hydrous is special since it can increase Carnot efficiency substantially. It really is a form of steam conversion: http://www.grainnet.com/article.php?ID=73529 . or. Is this just more moonshine from tater-heads ? - methinks, it is right-on, Jack and another nail being hammered into the very large coffin being constructed for the Big-Oil+OPEC Cartel. General Jack D. Ripper was right - it's all we need to protect our precious bodily fluids ;-) Jones
