Ethanol as an alternative fuel

[theotherguy]

Magnesium? Wouldn't that be expensive? I'd have thought you'd need to get a lot of hydrogen out the stuff to make it economical. Plus, it's not-renewable, unless you plan on using lots of energy to convert the magnesium oxide back into magnesium, all of which would have to be solar energy, lest you use fossil fuels.
Home solar cells powering water electrolysis would work, I think, but they they would be expensive (maybe not in the long run though, due to savings on petrol), and they would be unreliable, at least in places like Britain (due to weather). Also, I don't know how much energy it would take to extract the hydrogen from the water compared to how much power output you'd get from a solar cell, but it might be that you'd be waiting ages for to get enough hydrogen to fill up your tank. We might have to wait for solar cells to become more efficient, is what I'm saying.
Bacteria sound promising, though



Is this THE END of all biofuels?? What about that power plant that runs off chicken shit, what if that has a negative energy balance too? I rather like the idea of biofuels, seeing as they're carbon-neutral and effectively run of solar power. I know there are other bio-fuels used in car engines, I hope they're not all as doomed as ethanol.

No, its not the end. Ethanol can be fixed to make it energy positive. For instance, if we harvested switchgrass and corn cellulose, we would have much more energy to use. Also, ethanol is probably a better idea politically and economically than oil because we don't have to rely on foreign shipping. I envision ethanol as a transition between oil and cleaner fuels like hydrogen.

 

[kirovman]

Inevitably, the corn or whatever crop produces ethanol would be grown in the 3rd world countries for a cheaper price, and they'd sacrifice their crop space in order to produce it.

Seriously, I think it's of similar moral dubiousness as oil.

 

[hneaz]

Im supporting solar energy. the efficiency level is increasing according to my dad who works for a solar company. there are batteries that store the sun's energy and maybe that can be converted into mechanical energy. if i ever own a car, ill put solar panels on the roof and batteries somewhere.

 

[sinkoman]

No, its not the end. Ethanol can be fixed to make it energy positive. For instance, if we harvested switchgrass and corn cellulose, we would have much more energy to use. Also, ethanol is probably a better idea politically and economically than oil because we don't have to rely on foreign shipping. I envision ethanol as a transition between oil and cleaner fuels like hydrogen.

I'd imagine that once marijuana is legalized, the byproducts from the crops would produce ALLOT of ethanol.

 

[McGooTheWise]

Pfft... Phuck ethenol, get me a hamster on a wheel in that damn thing! That'll get it goin!!! Just hold a carrot out in front of it... :|

 

[-Psy-]

It's all a bit of a mess at the moment.

 

[_Z_Ryuken]

Ethanol is already on the rise. Keep an eye out for Flex Fuel vehicles, they should be popping up around you.
While E will probably never replace gasoline, it will be increasingly diluted into gasoline. Some places use as much as %15 ethanol gas. Ethanol does get slightly worse mileage than petrol fuel, but this is because it generates more power. The efficiency is practically the same. It does wear out plastics and rubber seals more quickly than gas so to convert your car you'll need maybe some E friendly fuel lines, seals, and E85 engine management.

 

[TechnoHippyChic]

The efficiency of hydrogen is actually greater than that of gasoline, but hydrogen just happens to be not very dense, and thus difficult to store. In the future, we could store hydrogen in liquid form, or even bathe aluminum-gallium alloys with it, which would give us extreme amounts of storage. We could even use designer nano particles to store vast quantities of hydrogen.

I saw a Nova ScienceNow episode where some guy had developed a way to store hydrogen in solid pellets, which he used to power his modified Prius. Alan Alda hosted it. Don't remember the pellet-guy's name, though...

Still, from most everything I've read, hydrogen is still pretty difficult to artificially produce efficiently. In an area like Iceland, with abundant natural resources to make it happen, it would make sense.

I continue to think it would great if it was mandatory to grow hemp, if not for it's energy or multitudinous other benefits, then just to get some o' those uptight bastards high once in a while...

 

[K e r b e r o s]

That sums it up. The mexicans are struggling with highly inflated corn prices right now, and its really hurting.

Too little corns.

You've got to be shitting me. We can practically grow our own natural gas resources and byproducts, Ethanol, something that will definately have less of an impact on the environment, our international policy, and what we spend at the pump ... and you guys are cynical?

My parents remember the jump from leaded to unleaded and now they're just hopping at the thought we'd no longer be entirely reliant on the international community for fuel, let alone all of the pollution it causes when you multiply it with the uses it has times the amount of people who'd need to use it.

So were is the danger if we can start growing it? I swear sometimes. The change from more poisonious natural gases to less poisonious biological fuels is almost like the debates some forums have about the dangers of smoking a cigerette to smoking marijuana ...

 

[co05]

You've got to be shitting me. We can practically grow our own natural gas resources and byproducts, Ethanol, something that will definately have less of an impact on the environment, our international policy, and what we spend at the pump ... and you guys are cynical?

I think people are scare of stuff like this happening again.

 

[K e r b e r o s]

Then how can we protect ourselves from something of that sort, when it is not in our power to manipulate the forces behind it?

If that should be an obstacle, what are the solutions? After all, even if we were to convert as quickly as tomorrow, we would'nt all entirely be dependent upon it until everything was converted into Ethanols use.

What could we do to forward our economic progress yet still protect it from natural disasters?

 

[Vass]

I'd walk everywhere or ride bike. I hate lazy Americans and fat people, and also gas and the poor environment and people not caring. Almost makes me wish I lived like a pirate.

 

[K e r b e r o s]

I'd walk everywhere or ride bike. I hate lazy Americans and fat people, and also gas and the poor environment and people not caring. Almost makes me wish I lived like a pirate.

Oh sure, unless the job was forty to sixty miles out from you where.

Also, how in the **** does your nationalistic prejudice against Americans and Fat people, involve the current energy crisis or the environment its destroying?

 

[Qonfused]

ITT America hating bandwagon.

 

[Muffin Man]

I'd walk everywhere or ride bike. I hate lazy Americans and fat people, and also gas and the poor environment and people not caring. Almost makes me wish I lived like a pirate.

Yes, because all of us live within walking distance of the places we go.

"Hey, dude, everyones coming over to my house to swim! want to come?"

"Yeah, I'll be there in about an hour!"

I'd love to live close enough to places to walk to them in a timely manner. But it's just not realistic, so shush.

 

[Cole]

It would take over 2 1/2 hours for me to walk to work. I'd know, i've done it. I live out in the country. A good 15 minute drive from where I work.

As Muffin Man also pointed out. Where I live, none of my friends are at all around me. It takes me a good 25 minute drive just to get to there houses because they live on the oppoisde side of the school district! To walk it would also involve a highway as backroads would take 10x longer. Do you understand the length of such a walk?