America Was Wrong About Ethanol - Study Shows, by Engineering Explained

[Xist]

I wanted to add this to my last Engineering Explained thread, but that went sideways, so we're starting over!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F-yDKeya4SU

Corn-based ethanol bad. We actually should be making it from switchgrass.

Here is the most-popular video about growing switchgrass for ethanol. They say that you can plant it, harvest it [multiple times] each year, and the crop should last decades without irrigation, fertilizing, or reseeding.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZOflCN90upA

That does sound better than corn!

[redneck]

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This topic would be a better in the General efficiency discussion section...




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[freebeard]

Can't swear about religion and politics over there.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holy_Cornholio

[rmay635703]

Funny part is corn ethanol 25+ years ago would be better than gasoline

As time has passed and soil has eroded the intensity of raising corn has gone up as labor has gone down.

As time goes on and we do nothing to naturally improve soil the lopsidedness will only get worse .

Worth noting, producing ethanol requires less energy the furth south you go, also if fermented slowly via traditional non-heated methods the energy use drops dramatically.

Sadly we only do things as quickly and intensively as possible

[JSH]

A few problems with the latest study.

1. It applies all the negative environmental factors to raising corn for ethanol to the ethanol without taking into account the byproducts. Every bushel of corn (56 lbs) used for ethanol production produces 17 lbs of DDG (Dried Distiller Grains) that is fed to livestock as high protein feed. That DDG offsets corn that would be feed directly to livestock.

2. It compares raising corn for livestock to leaving the field fallow. It should compare various uses of the corn. Turning corn into ethanol is WAY more energy efficient than feeding it to livestock.

People like to talk about food vs fuel but the reality is animal feed vs fuel.

[Xist]

I had a Spanish professor that only spoke Spanglish and ranted about hippy gringos--sorry, European-Americans\as--making corn so expensive that Mexicans were starving.

I just thought "People all over eat corn and this affects all of them."

I guess the rest of the world didn't matter to her.

[freebeard]

Let us all hope there is sufficient fertilizer to grow all that corn.

In other news, I went back and watched the 2nd video. That's really interesting, the no-till no-herbicide nature of switchgrass makes it Permaculture.

However, they listed all those biomass sources and skipped hemp. Must be one of those States still under Prohibition. You need at least some hemp for hemp oil for the lubricants and paint solvents.

[oil pan 4]

Nope, farm reports are projecting up to a 30% fertilizer shortage with prices probably doubling.

[cRiPpLe_rOoStEr]

Originally Posted by JSH

People like to talk about food vs fuel but the reality is animal feed vs fuel.

Whenever I try to point it out in Brazil, there is always someone who insists on disagreeing as if I said corn should be the only feedstock for ethanol, instead of another option to decrease the dependence on sugarcane. For a country such as Brazil, which is one of the largest exporters of animal protein (much of the poultry eaten in the Middle East comes from Brazil, with the Paraná state for instance as the largest exporter of Halal chicken), corn-based ethanol is a good option, even though it shouldn't be the only one.

[rmay635703]

Originally Posted by oil pan 4

Nope, farm reports are projecting up to a 30% fertilizer shortage with prices probably doubling.

Don’t even need fertilizer if we would follow proper crop rotations

Sadly the environment gives problems so we eliminate it.