DailyDirt: Growing Biofuels For Sustainable Energy
from the urls-we-dig-up dept
Biology has already figured out how to capture and use solar energy, so it makes some sense that we could try to re-purpose natural mechanisms to do our bidding and fulfill our energy needs. The trick is doing it on a scale that works economically. Plenty of scientists are working on ways to produce biofuels, but so far, the amount of biofuel used commercially is a rounding error compared to the volume of petroleum products that is burned. Still, here are just a few examples of biofuels that could be promising alternatives to burning dinosaur remains.- Genetically modified versions of Escherichia coli (E. coli) have produced small amounts of gasoline in a lab -- which could potentially be scaled up to 'grow' a practical biofuel that doesn't require significant changes to our existing petroleum-powered economy. Bacteria have produced biodiesel before, but this is the first time a 'biogasoline' has been grown. [url]
- Cellulosic ethanol is either a boondoggle or the next big biofuel. The US converts about 40% of its corn crop into alcohol fuel, and some say it's time to end the subsidies that support this semi-established biofuel. [url]
- Plant waste could be fermented to produce a gasoline-like fuel, too. A pilot plant for scaling up this process is a couple years away still, but this is another way we could keep our gas-guzzling cars and use more environmentally friendly fuels at the pump. [url]
- Biofuels are usually promoted with the benefit of being carbon neutral, but the technology to turn biomass into energy can be carbon negative, too. Gasification heats up biomass like corn husk waste in a low oxygen environment to create combustible hydrogen and carbon-rich charcoal. [url]
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Filed Under: biodiesel, biofuel, biogasoline, biomass, biotech, carbon negative, carbon neutral, cellulosic ethanol, energy, gmo, hydrogen, petroleum
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Escherichia_coli
:)
On the front of biomass utilization, well I like the idea, mostly because it has the potential to also produce a number of useful byproducts, the problem with it today is that we don't have a closed system meaning not all byproducts are turned into something that will be used downstream, but it is getting there.
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E. Coli lives in your intestines.
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Corn subsidies should be stopped for so many reasons...
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EROEI
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But to take up crop space, and grow corn or soy specifically in order to burn it in your car? No, that's insane. Even if we ignore the issues with monoculture, soil degradation, compaction, fertilizer runoff, and energy consumption, it's still just a lousy source of energy with almost no side-benefits.
*Some* of the other potential crops can be grown on marginal land not useful for growing much food, such as elephant grass etc., but, really, we need to stop burning things for energy. It's time to really push for alternative means of consumption as well as production.
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Plant wastes like stalks, hulls, etc. if edible, are more valuable as livestock feed. Yes, you'd be surprised at what gets fed to livestock. As an example pecan hulls are loved by cattle. Grind them up and use them as all or part of the roughage requirement. Bean stalks, like those left behind from growing green beans, are fed out immediately, or ensiled and used for winter feed. If it has feed value, chances are it is getting used by somebody to feed some type of livestock. The non edible plant waste can be put through a thermal depolymerization process to turn them into fuel and fertilizer.
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