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bio-fuels

Discussion in 'Prius, Hybrid, EV and Alt-Fuel News' started by Bob Allen, Jul 1, 2004.

  1. Bob Allen

    Bob Allen Captainbaba

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    I found an interesting article on bio fuel at a Pakistani web site. A lot of this is stuff most of us have heard or read before, but it is interesting to get an Asian view of the world's growing fuel crisis.
    The site: Pakissan.com

    When you get to the site, go to the search bar at the top right side of the home page and type "bio-fuel". You should get a Google listing and the top one will be the section from Pakissan.com dealing with bio fuels.
     
    #1 Bob Allen, Jul 1, 2004
  2. tms13

    tms13 Member

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    Direct link for those who dislike jumping through hoops:
    Biotechnology and Future Energy: BIO-FUEL.
     
    #2 tms13, Jul 2, 2004
  3. twindad

    twindad New Member

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    I read through a very long and heated debate once about bio-fuels and if they are really a viable renewable resource. The contention: If you plant say 100,000 acres of bio-fuel plants, do you 'grow' enough fuel to allow you to harvest, refine, and replant 100,000 acres. If you can't then you aren't really creating any usable energy. I don't have a clue what the real answer is, but it is something to think about.
    On a similar vein, I read an article long ago about one scientists argument that you extract the most energy from plants by burning them. High heat furnaces could burn the fuel to completion with a minimum of nasty gasses. Don't know the reality of that either. Part of the argument too was the carbon dioxide of combustion would be re-absorbed in the next crop of plants, yielding a Zero net on the environment.
     
    #3 twindad, Jul 14, 2004
  4. Sun__Tzu

    Sun__Tzu New Member

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    The only problem (besides inefficiency) might be soil exhaustion. As I understand it, soil exhaustion might be a problem for some areas of the world (and US) in the near future, such that food supplies will tighten.

    Otherwise, it could work as a renewable source. Its all solar energy anyway...
     
    #4 Sun__Tzu, Jul 15, 2004
  5. twindad

    twindad New Member

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    The claim was the ashes would go back as the fertilizer. When you think about it, plants are great storehouses of energy. With solarpanels & windmills, you need to store energy somewhere to keep the grid humming when the sun is down and the wind isn't blowing. Wow. Imagine the size of the batteries!
     
    #5 twindad, Jul 16, 2004
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