Even though our government has chosen to subsidize the Ethanol from Corn technology there are some major questions as to why this was passed. Turns out the net energy to create the Corn based ethanol is no more than what you yield from it…. no net energy.
There are a couple of attractive alternatives that are not getting the support they should.
The first alternative bio-fuel is Switchgrass Ethanol…
Here is a report by Scientific American on a 5 year study…
“switchgrass ethanol delivers 540 percent of the energy used to produce it, compared with just roughly 25 percent more energy returned by corn-based ethanol according to the most optimistic studies.”-USDA plant scientist Ken Vogel
“”Cellulosic ethanol contains more net energy and emits significantly fewer greenhouse gases than ethanol made from corn.”-DOE Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman.
But even a native prairie grass needs a helping hand from scientists and farmers to deliver the yields necessary to help ethanol become a viable alternative to petroleum-derived gasoline, Vogel argues. “To really maximize their yield potential, you need to provide nitrogen fertilization,” he says, as well as improved breeding techniques and genetic strains. “Low input systems are just not going to be able to get the energy per acre needed to provide feed, fuel and fiber.”
University of Rhode Island scientist aims to genetically modify switchgrass and produce 100% ethanol for less than $1 per gallon.
“That’s a key concern with using corn for ethanol because some of the genes being engineered into corn to make it a better source of ethanol aren’t genes we want in the food chain. And without confinement, such as plant sterility, those genes could find their way into the corn that we eat.”
“It won’t entirely solve the problem, but it sure will help,” said Kausch. “And the reduced CO2 that comes from your tailpipe is then absorbed by the plants that are then turned into ethanol again, so it becomes a natural cycle.”
– Albert Kausch, University of Rhode Island, plant geneticist
Second alternative bio-fuel is Ethanol from Hemp…
Hemp: the New Soy The THC in this food is so minuscule it is like comparing poppy seeds with heroin.
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Willie on Hemp and the Family Farm…
The Declaration of Independence was printed on Hemp!
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Jack Cashin on hemp -Libertarian candidate for Georgia Agriculture Commissioner advocates Hemp as the billion dollar cash crop that will save Georgia’s farmers.
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Hemp Building materials -Hemp can make a cement-like substance that is stronger & lighter than traditional cement , in fact 1/6th the weight.
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1941 Ford Hemp Car- lighter than steel, yet could withstand 10 times the impact without denting
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Could this all be about the control of the oil industries… or the fear of ???
Why are we kept in the dark about this particular plant? Who has the most to loose if we start to utilize this fiber the way our ancestors did? Good questions to answer.
The old stigmatism about Hemp needs to change, or at least soften. The “medicinal” pot is a distant relative of the other varieties of Hemp. You could eat a life time of the new “healthy” hemp seeds and never get high… instead you would just suffer from better health…. darn.
Is ‘Hemp’ The Right Thing to Do?
Are there better options for fiber? super foods? better sources of ethanol? Maybe. There are better ways to harvest energy. How about Solar Energy? One onethousandth of one percent of the solar energy reaching the earths surface can satisfy all of the earths energy needs. In fact, in just one hour the Sun provides enough energy to supply all our needs for an entire year… There is a better way… like the solar rental REnU from Citizenre! We could even use this energy to make methanol out of carbon dioxide and not only do we have a superior fuel but we stop and possibly reverse global warming.
Be well,
Bruce
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