Quote:
Originally Posted by RustyLugNut
This is only one of many ways of turning biomass into a form of hydrocarbon crude.
Biocrude Production from Switchgrass Using Subcritical Water - Energy & Fuels (ACS Publications)
Batteries are the Achilles heel of electric portable motive systems. People seem to think that time and money will bring down the cost of batteries while increasing performance much like current electronic development. But battery development does not follow Moore's Law. It is constrained by physical laws, and battery development has been and will be incremental and not geometric. |
I know there are ways to turn create bio-diesel but the main problem is the inefficiencies in the technology compared to the output. They do not match those of basic crude. I have read numerous switch-grass and algae bio-diesel reports and I have found they are awesome to think about but the science behind them is not enough to replace crude. We are able to accelerate mother natures process but we cannot match it yet in a manageable time frame. We are trying to play catch up in a 5k race and mother-nature is 3 feet from the finish line.
I am all for clean renewable bio-diesel over current electric and crude operated cars but it will be awhile before output can match demand. By then electric cars will probably be the norm and the bio-diesel created then will be just to power generation plants and not individual cars. Electric engines are much simpler and reliable than complex mechanical internal combustion engines.
I agree if battery technology doesn't improve enough by the time we are able to match bio-diesel output with crude then all electric cars will be very far distant future. In the end everything comes down to economics.