OT Hydrogen economy, not? - Page 3

 On Wed, 16 Jul 2008 20:25:14 GMT, James Arthur


About a billion people on this planet get insufficient carbohydrates
to meet their body's needs. Burning food in SUVs and airplanes is
grotesque. One bushel of corn, 65 pounds, makes a couple of gallons of
ethanol. So refilling an Escalade could waste a half of a ton of food.

John

  John Larkin wrote:

Half a ton?  Heck, that's burning chicken feed.  No, really...it is
burning chicken feed.

Cheers,
James Arthur

 John Larkin wrote:

Sugar cane and its relatives are the ones to beat. Nothing else comes
close yet. We can also grow oil rich plants on marginal land. People are
playing with Jatropha for this although I don't envy the farmers job.

I am in full agreement with you there.

Only the power of the US corn lobby could ever have got this one off the
ground. The end to end energy cost of making alcohol from grain
including all inputs is pretty awful. You get only about 10-20% return
if you are lucky. Sugar cane is more than 300% ROI and still with scope
for improvement.

Regards,
Martin Brown
** Posted from http://www.teranews.com  **

 John Larkin wrote:

Sugar cane and its relatives are the ones to beat. Nothing else comes
close yet. We can also grow oil rich plants on marginal land. People
are playing with Jatropha for this although I don't envy the farmers
job.

I am in full agreement with you there. It also drives prices of grain
up out of reach of the poorest.

Only the power of the US corn lobby could ever have got this one off
the ground. The end to end energy cost of making alcohol from grain
including all inputs is pretty awful. You get only about 10-20% return
if you are lucky. Sugar cane is more than 300% ROI and still with
scope for improvement.

Regards,
Martin Brown