SAKE MAY POWER CARS IN THE FUTURE If a pilot project to create sake fuel is a hit with locals in Shinanomachi, Japanese motorists may one day pump their cars full of sake. According to Risa Maeda of Reuters, the government-funded project at Shinanomachi, a mountain resort about 124 miles northwest of Tokyo, will produce cheap rice-origin ethanol brew with the help of local farmers who will donate farm waste such as rice hulls to be turned into ethanol. Yasuo Igarashi, a professor of applied microbiology at the University of Tokyo who heads the three year project, told Reuters, "We want to present the next generation a preferable blue print - a self-sustainable use of local fuels." If the project catches on with the local community, then it could pave the way for similar biofuel endeavors across Japan. "Japan, the world's second largest gasoline consumer after the United States, is entirely dependent on crude oil imports and it has been hit by the surge in oil prices," says Maeda. "With hefty carbon emissions reduction targets to meet under the Kyoto protocols, Japan is turning to biofuels. Yet motorists in Japan are still far behind drivers in Europe and the United States in their consumption of green fuels." Igarashi and his team hope to show that biofuels are feasible and inexpensive by developing a low-cost fuel and encouraging a local community of about 10,000 people to take part in producing that fuel. "Production has just begun at the facility at a former high school field in Shinanomachi and a sweet, sour aroma, similar to that of unfiltered sake, wafts into the air, reports Maeda. "We like the idea," said Shigehiro Matsuki, the mayor of Shinanomachi told Reuters. "The new fuels are renewable... instead of fossil fuels which are running out." Back Seat Driving, May 12, 2007
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Alexstarfire @ May 14 2007, 10:02 PM) [snapback]442225[/snapback]</div> I sure wouldn't drink it. Ethanol is drinkable. Methanol is "wood alcohol". Supposedly makes one go blind. At least, IIRC. I'm correct about the ethanol, but perhaps not about the going blind from methanol. Dave M.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(MikeSF @ May 15 2007, 01:21 AM) [snapback]442235[/snapback]</div> If you notice, countires (like japan) that grow lots of rice get a ton of rain.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(hill @ May 15 2007, 09:28 AM) [snapback]442467[/snapback]</div> India does? China does? (I don't know about china, but India?) Top Paddy Rice Producers — 2005 (million metric ton) China 185 India 129 Indonesia 54 Bangladesh 40 Vietnam 36 Thailand 27 Myanmar 25 Pakistan 18 Phillipines 15 Brazil 13 Japan 11 World Total 700 Source: UN Food & Agriculture Organization
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(MikeSF @ May 15 2007, 10:28 AM) [snapback]442525[/snapback]</div> I doubt any of those countries use anything like modern irrigation in the states (especially as wheat farmers do in Eastern Washington, i.e., run sprinklers to let the water evaporate into the dry air). Rice paddies are flooded (probably from nearby streams and rivers). The rain doesn't have to be local to where the rice is grown. Just available at the source. Of course, there would be the requirement that the rice wouldn't take up too much water destined for other locations. Dave M.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Arroyo @ May 14 2007, 12:32 PM) [snapback]441840[/snapback]</div> It will take an awful lot of rice hulls to produce the industrial-scale quantities of ethanol that would be required for even a 10% ethanol substitution rate. Personally, I doubt there are enough rice hulls in all of Japan to make enough ethanol to get to something like a 1% ethanol substitution rate. I think a better use of brain cycles would be to focus on increasing the energy density of the battery pack so the Prius can become a viable PHEV.
