Ethanol has lots of potential.

[Stonewall]

Ethanol could reduce fossil fuel need: study

By Maggie Fox, Health and Science Correspondent
Thu Jan 26, 4:13 PM ET

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Ethanol -- alcohol produced from corn or other plants -- is more energy-efficient than some experts had realized and it is time to start developing it as an alternative to fossil fuels, researchers said on Thursday.
ADVERTISEMENT
    

While some critics have said the push for ethanol is based on faulty science and mostly benefits the farm lobby, several reviews and commentaries published in Friday's issue of the journal Science argue otherwise.

"We find that ethanol can, if it is made correctly, contribute significantly to both energy and environmental goals. However, the current way of producing ethanol with corn probably only meets energy goals," said Alexander Farrell at the University of California Berkeley.

Farrell and colleagues looked at six studies used to argue for and against the development of ethanol as an energy source.

"One of the main purposes is to explain why the studies found in the literature have such divergent results," Farrell said in a telephone interview.

"Some of the studies use what appear to be obsolete data or data whose quality cannot be verified," Farrell added.

Currently, ethanol is not a significant source of fuel, but is blended into gasoline in some states. Environmentalists hope it could be developed as a cleaner source of fuel than oil or gas.

"The 3.4 billion gallons (15.5 billion liters) of ethanol blended into gasoline in 2004 amounted to about 2 percent of all gasoline sold by volume and 1.3 percent of its energy content," the researchers wrote.

Farrell said it was possible to put ethanol in a car and run it, but making ethanol using current technology is expensive and contributes to pollution and greenhouse gases.

"(The environmental cost) comes entirely from making fertilizer, running the tractors over the farm and operating the biorefinery," Farrell said.

Better methods now being investigated would use the woody parts of plants, using what is known as cellulosic technology to break down the tough fibers.

"Ethanol can be, if it's made the right way with cellulosic technology, a really good fuel for the United States," said Farrell, an assistant professor of energy and resources.

"At the moment, cellulosic technology is just too expensive. If that changes -- and the technology is developing rapidly -- then we might see cellulosic technology enter the commercial market within five years."

Writing in the same journal, scientists from Imperial College London, Georgia Tech and Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee said they had teamed up to find ways to make a facility to do that.

Their facility would make a range of fuels, foods, chemicals, animal feeds, materials, heat and power using what is known as biomass -- a collection of renewable plant matter and biological material such as trees, grasses and agricultural crops.

"We're looking at a future for biomass where we use the entire plant and produce a range of different materials from it," Charlotte Williams of Imperial's Department of Chemistry said in a statement.

"Before we freeze in the dark, we must prepare to make the transition from nonrenewable carbon resources to renewable bioresources," her team wrote.

An oil industry expert said it was possible.

"Credible studies show that with plausible technology developments, biofuels could supply some 30 percent of global demand in an environmentally responsible manner without affecting food production," Steven Koonin, chief scientist for BP in London, wrote in a commentary.

"To realize that goal, so-called advanced biofuels must be developed from dedicated energy crops, separately and distinctly from food."

[rangeriron]

I've always been very sceptical about the use of ethanol.  I for one do not believe it is the solution to energy problems.  On the surface ethanol seems like a very fine choice (helps farmers, decreases dependency on fossil fuels), but once you take a deep look into what it takes to make ethanol, you see the problems.  The main problem, and the only one that need mentioning, is that it takes significantly more energy to produce ethanol than the energy it yields.  It takes about 29% more energy to produce ethanol than what it yields.

The current means to produce ethanol are solely based in the use of fossil fuels.  If this means was switched to something that is renewable (hydro-electric, wind) we would be looking at an entirely different story.  But for now, it takes about 1.1 gallons of fuel to produce 1 gallon of ethanol, doesn't seem like the right choice to me.

[Stonewall]

That theory is based on outdated information. Technological advancements have made ethanol a viable alternative.

[rangeriron]

I really don't consider it much of a "theory" being as it has been prooven through practice.  And if it outdated, i would love to see facts that show otherwise.

[(Re)volution]

The thing is ethanol is having alot of trouble spreading, it exist in the western united states, however here in the south east its not acessible. Certainly it is a better solution than George Bush's proposal to use coal.

[SecurityManKillJoy]

I've heard the arguement that we should actually be using hemp plants as a source of oil. This is argued also because those species of plants can also be used to make clothing, paper, be used for some medical treatment and many diverse phenomenon besides smoking etc. However, I'm not sure if it would be any more effective than ethanol and electricity or if it takes a lot of energy to make the oil.

Does anyone have information about how hemp might fare as an energy source? I don't know a lot on the subject; perhaps the hemp converted to oil is just another form of extracted ethanol. But of course such things are not very likely to happen or be considered with the bourgeois bureaucratic war on drugs.

[(Re)volution]

"The pulp (hurd) of the hemp plant can be burned as is or processed into charcoal, methanol, methane, or gasoline. The process for doing this is called destructive distillation, or `pyrolysis.' Fuels made out of plants like this are called `biomass' fuels. This charcoal may be burned in today's coal-powered electric generators. Methanol makes a good automobile fuel, in fact it is used in professional automobile races. It may someday replace gasoline.

Hemp may also be used to produce ethanol (grain alcohol.) The United States government has developed a way to make this automobile fuel additive from cellulosic biomass. Hemp is an excellent source of high quality cellulosic biomass. One other way to use hemp as fuel is to use the oil from the hemp seed -- some diesel engines can run on pure pressed hemp seed oil. However, the oil is more useful for other purposes, even if we could produce and press enough hemp seed to power many millions of cars."

Thats from a hemp FAQ basically that I found on the internet if your curious about it being a fuel alternative.