Quote:
Originally Posted by drmiller100
Ethanol is "rechargable". If you get SERIOUS about the economics, ethanol can indeed be made and sold for a profit at today's gasoline prices. This tells me it makes economic sense.
Brazil has been doing it for many years.
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The real problem with the current crop of "affordable" biofuels is the amount of land it takes. It will never replace a major portion of current fossil fuel use - the energy return and land use is simply way too high. It is likely to eventually replace fossil fuels where energy density is a must (think jets).
The "Do the Math" blog has a great post on this:
The Biofuel Grind | Do the Math
Quote:
Originally Posted by jamesqf
Batteries are chemistry, and burning gasoline in an IC engine is chemistry. So is there IN PRINCIPLE any reason a "battery" couldn't store as much energy in some reversible reaction as could be stored in an equal weight of gasoline?
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Yes, this "battery" you describe would be called a fuel cell. These are also likely to replace fossil fuels for energy intense applications (long haul trucking is a good example) but will likely still include some amount of traditional batteries or super-capacitors as current fuel cells do not like to change power output rapidly.