Quote:
Originally Posted by roosterk0031
I wonder if part of the advantage in Brazil is they don't make them take all the water out.
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The advantage is the amount of sunpower available to Brazil. Sugarcane flourishes in that environment, so it's cheap to make ethanol.
I'm all for Brazil sugarcane ethanol, and completely against corn ethanol.
Quote:
Ethanol and Biodiesel Yield per Acre from Selected Crops
Fuel Crop Fuel Yield (gallons)
Ethanol
Sugar beet (France) 714
Sugarcane (Brazil) 662
Cassava (Nigeria) 410
Sweet Sorghum (India) 374
Corn (U.S.) 354
Wheat (France) 277
Biodiesel
Oil palm 508
Coconut 230
Rapeseed 102
Peanut 90
Sunflower 82
Soybean 56 (author’s estimate)
For net energy yield, ethanol from sugarcane in Brazil is in a class all by itself, yielding over 8 units of energy for each unit invested in cane production and ethanol distillation...Brazil can produce cane-based ethanol for 60¢ per gallon.
...U.S. corn-based ethanol, which relies largely on natural gas for distillation energy, comes in a distant third in net energy efficiency, yielding only 1.5 units of energy for each energy unit used.
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