What's more, models that show biomass supplying a significant amount of the nation's transportation fuels tend to lean heavily on projections that vehicles will use half as much fuel as they do today, or even less. Without this increase in efficiency, however, there's not enough land to provide a supply of biomass sufficient to put a dent in the demand for foreign oil. "High vehicle efficiency is an essential factor for all sustainable transportation scenarios," says Lee Lynd, engineering and biology professor at Dartmouth and co-author of the NRDC study that said biomass could replace gasoline by 2050. His model assumes two and a half times the current fuel economy for vehicles, as well as sophisticated crop rotations and other land-use decisions to make it possible to supply both food and energy from existing agricultural and pasture lands. If the past is a guide, such models are extremely optimistic. In fact, although technology has improved fuel efficiency, the average number of miles per gallon for vehicles today is actually less than it was in the late 1980s, according to a recent EPA report. While engines have become better at extracting energy from fuel, cars have also become faster and heavier, cancelling any gains. Lynd's optimistic scenario also assumes that the conversion of stalks to ethanol can be done much more efficiently than it is today, by combining existing metabolic pathways from organisms such as fungi and bacteria. A recent white paper from a group of biomass researchers at MIT says that existing pathways will also need to be fine tuned to provide adequate yields. Creating these pathways will depend on continued research, even as less-efficient technologies begin to come online. Experts look at biomass and see the potential to significantly improve our energy security while helping the environment. Certainly, the vision of vast fields of switchgrass and other crops replacing troubled oil fields in the Middle East is an attractive one. But turning biomass into more than a fuel for niche applications will require a strong R&D effort to bring the technology to fruition. Image on home page (switchgrass) courtesy of Department of Energy
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The Methanol Economy
03/02/2006









Comments
Guest (Jim Demers) on 02/15/2006 at 12:00 AM
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Guest (Arnold Larsen) on 02/16/2006 at 12:00 AM
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Guest (Jim Demers) on 02/27/2006 at 12:00 AM
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But there is that superweed, an exotic escapee from home aquariums, that grows like kudzu in warm water. I wonder how much fuel one could extract from an acre of that stuff, vs. an acre of corn or sugar cane.
Guest (James) on 02/19/2006 at 12:00 AM
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though this is little more than a blurb, more info can be found on the web and I'm just shocked its fallen by the way side. I mean, garbage into oil? it gives new meaning to the old cliche of killing two birds with one stone
Guest (Harmon Everett) on 02/15/2006 at 12:00 AM
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Guest (Stan) on 02/15/2006 at 12:00 AM
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Guest (SirLanse) on 02/15/2006 at 12:00 AM
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to an oily algea and turn the
Gulf of Mexico into oil farm.
Guest (Jessey) on 02/15/2006 at 12:00 AM
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Guest (Anonymous) on 02/15/2006 at 12:00 AM
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Don’t let anyone fool you there are plenty of ways to produce viable renewable energy. It’s my belief that ethanol is being proposed only because it’ll encourage American agriculture and will line the pockets of our Presidents friends.
Guest (Jim Demers) on 02/16/2006 at 12:00 AM
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If one adds in the energy costs associated with plowing, planting, growing, harvesting, and transporting corn, and factors in the CO2 generated as the necessary ammonia-based fertilizer is produced and distributed, I have serious doubts that corn-derived ethanol gains us anything at all.
Guest (Harminder) on 02/16/2006 at 12:00 AM
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Guest (Cash) on 02/15/2006 at 12:00 AM
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Guest (Anonymous) on 02/16/2006 at 12:00 AM
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Guest (Jeff Rosner) on 02/15/2006 at 12:00 AM
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Guest (CVE) on 02/17/2006 at 12:00 AM
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Guest (Jim Demers) on 02/23/2006 at 12:00 AM
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Guest (Ron Wagner) on 02/27/2006 at 12:00 AM
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2. Heat is a more basic need than meat eating, but both can be produced plentifully. Meat takes about eight pounds of grain to a pound of meat.
3. Marginal lands ,not presently used for farming, can be used for switchgrass or hemp etc. Genetic engineering will make this even more efficient and feasible.
4. Distributed energy production is the key to a secure energy future. It also cuts the monopolists out of the picture to a great extent. Small entrepreneurs can produce energy in many ways.
Guest (Ecacofonix) on 06/16/2006 at 12:00 AM
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Let's hope that this area gets the attention it deserves...one site I found that focusses on <a href="http://www.oilgae.com">biodiesel from algae is Oilgae.com</a> @ http://www.oilgae.com
Ec @ http://www.eit.in