Re: useful analogy

From: Stephen Sprunk (stephen_at_sprunk.org)
Date: 09/03/04 

Date: Fri, 3 Sep 2004 16:57:55 -0500

[ comp.os.linux.advocacy dropped ]

"Jim Richardson" <warlock@eskimo.com> wrote in message
news:ficg02-e5u.ln1@grendel.myth...
> -----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
> Hash: SHA1
>
> On 31 Aug 2004 12:37:46 -0700, ziliath <ziliath@myway.com> wrote:
>> You can think it, but that won't make it true.
>> The cost to manufacture ethanol fuel is $0.50 per gallon,
>> and that comes from multiple sources.
>
> And the cost to extract and refine gasoline? It *sells* for ~$2/gal here
> in the states, but a lot of that is taxes, and some profit, not the
> cost.

Data from 24 June 04
Reported retail prices before any taxes, rebates, or subsidies

87 Unleaded nat'l avg $1.28
E100 nat'l avg $1.83/gal, range $1.25-$2.01/gal

If you exclude Milwaukee, WI, from the E100 survey then the low end of the
range rises to $1.72/gal. I'm not sure why the price at that one location
is 27% lower than the next-lowest price -- it might be a fluke, or it might
be a different process that's more efficient.

However, on average E100 needs to get about 25% cheaper per gallon to match
unleaded price levels, plus another 20% cheaper to account for the lower
energy density. Existing yeasts processing corn (which all of the US
commerical plants use today) are known to be far behind what's possible;
other discussions in this newsgroup showed three times as much ethanol per
acre can be produced with switchgrass, and a 40% yield increase can be made
with corn simply by using engineered yeast. The needed 45% improvement is
certainly possible within a few years, but current production is still
orders of magnitude off from what's needed to replace oil imports.

S 

-- 
Stephen Sprunk      "Those people who think they know everything
CCIE #3723         are a great annoyance to those of us who do."
K5SSS                                             --Isaac Asimov

Relevant Pages

  • Re: useful analogy
    ... >> in the states, but a lot of that is taxes, and some profit, not the ... I'm not sure why the price at that one location ... sort of legislation that reduces the consumer cost of E100. ... Existing yeasts processing corn (which all of the US ...
    (sci.energy)
  • Re: useful analogy
    ... >> I think the problem is cost. ... > The cost to manufacture ethanol fuel is $0.50 per gallon, ... Let me guess...you forgot the price of the corn? ...
    (sci.energy)
  • Caster levels, schools and prices for artifacts
    ... Craft Wondrous Item, ... Price 107824 gp. ... for divine spellcasting ability is offset by the cost of damaging ...
    (rec.games.frp.dnd)
  • Re: von Mises Institute on Henry George
    ... Are you trying to imply that carrying cost forces the car dealer to ... put the cars on the market, and work to get their highest market ... of that cost back from sales due to the 100% tax, ... price of $1, or "take what you can drive". ...
    (sci.econ)
  • Re: Will Dell OEM Vista install on another Dell PC?
    ... The cost of the media is completely immaterial to the price of the software ... Justify stealing for me. ... We're talking about the customer paying for one hamburger and stealing ...
    (alt.sys.pc-clone.dell)