The energy consumed by the process of turning corn into fuel is so great that
ethanol production is not economically feasible without government subsidies.
But this article posits a solution that reduces operating costs of corn-based
bio-ethanol plants by more than 60%, according to chemical engineers at
Carnegie Mellon University.
( of course Cargill is involved in it, since they have a significant amount of
corn stocks)
http://www.isa.org/Content/ContentGroups/News/20071/February26/Efficiency_hike_in_ethanol_production.htm
Dan Mitchell wrote:
> Jan Steinman wrote:
>> I drive on biodiesel I make myself (when not cycling or walking),
>
> Where do you get the raw materials for this? I've seen a number of
> shows/articles about people who start with used cooking fat from
> restaurants and then reprocess it -- this seems like a great idea, but
> what happens when you pull up to the back of Eat-At-Joes and someone
> else has already cleaned them out for their vehicle? Does it make
> economic sense to start with (say) sunflower oil or something instead?
>
> (this is a genuine question, I'm not trying to pick holes in biodiesel
> as a concept or anything -- presumably you can still run on regular
> diesel, right?
In the summers, I run B20 -- 20% soy biodiesel and 80% "dino
diesel". They mix just fine at summer temperatures without any
preparation on my part. It's a different story below about 30
degrees F (zero degrees C), however, as 100% biodiesel and untreated
vegetable oils start gelling.
The raw materials for making biodiesel are a suitable oil, lye,
methanol (wood alcohol), and phenolphthalein. The hardest material
to get is the oil (mostly because of how much you need). Some folks
"contract" with specific restaurants to collect their waste
vegetable oil, which helps to eliminate the problem of someone
"tanking up" before you get there. At current diesel prices (even
commercially-available biodiesel), it does not pay to be buying
pails and barrels of vegetable oil unless you really want to stick
it to Big Oil.
Steve
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