Re: Cellulosic Ethanol

From: G. R. L. Cowan (gcowan_at_eagle.ca)
Date: 08/23/04 

Date: Mon, 23 Aug 2004 11:11:04 -0400

LongmuirG wrote:
>
> brianb posted an article, which said in part:
> >raising switchgrass for the BFDP studies, Bransby's site holds the
> >one-year record at 15 tons per acre. Those are dry tons weighed after
> >all the moisture's been baked out. Convert that into ethanol, an
> >alcohol that can fuel vehicles, and it equals about 1,500 gallons per
> >acre.
>
> Let's see. The best yield is 15 tons per acre -- "dry tons weighed after
> all the moisture's been baked out" -- and that gives 1,500 gallons of ethanol.
>
> Since the wet mass might be several times the dry mass, sounds like a lot of
> water has to be "baked out". Could be energy intensive. Wonder how many
> gallons of ethanol it takes to provide the energy to bake out however many tons
> of water from the crop?

You wouldn't burn ethanol for that.
You might burn, I guess, a fifth of the dried grass
to dry the other four-fifths, or after fermentation
burn all the residue.

--- Graham Cowan
http://www.eagle.ca/~gcowan/Paper_for_11th_CHC.doc
How individual mobility gains nuclear cachet

Relevant Pages

  • Re: Cellulosic Ethanol
    ... >> Since the wet mass might be several times the dry mass, ... > You wouldn't burn ethanol for that. ... --- Graham Cowan ...
    (sci.energy)
  • Re: Energy needed for Ethanol production
    ... but soon may use the stalks for cellulose ethanol and ... >>burn the lignin that is left, getting even more energy from the cane. ... If Ever Clear is really 95% it is a lot stronger then any moonshine I ... With moonshine you typically get one poorly controlled distillation. ...
    (misc.rural)
  • Re: Art, wheres the buzz on nanotech saving America today?
    ... Surely even if you made the assumption that all of the earth is pure oil, then at our present burn rate any kid who can calculate simple algebra would be able to predict the day when it will all be burned up. ... it takes energy to make ethanol. ... often resulting in excess power being produced with no load to use it. ...
    (sci.research.careers)
  • Re: Ethanol and global warming
    ... Whether or not ethanol is "positive or negative" is actually beside ... We can only burn certain very specific liquid fuels in our ... A good part of our liquid motor fuel supply comes from overseas, ...
    (misc.transport.road)
  • Re: Is clean or free energy a scam?
    ... On ethanol, would it not be more efficient to burn the corn to produce steam ... in a hybrid car than ... >> What alternative fuels are likely to dominate the world ...
    (sci.energy.hydrogen)