A friend set me this regarding energy production do think it would work?

Question

At present we grow corn and then spend energy turning it into alcohol. A gallon of corn converted to alcohol will run a small engine for only a short time. However with a gallon of corn you can feed and work a pair of mule's all day in a turnstile. The mule's methane gas can be harnessed and the solid waste can be returned to the field to grow more corn, a win win all the way

Answer 1

Growing corn for fuel isn't very efficient, but methane is a greenhouse gas, so making more isn't necesarily a good idea.

Alcohol from sugar cane is a better choice.

Answer 2

My guess is that a small engine using  less than 1 gallon a day could make more power than the mules..

Answer 3

Corn ethanol for fuel is a bio-disasterous scam six ways to sunday.  The only reason it is at all economically viable is because of how heavily subsidized by the government it is.

The problem in your scenario is that using animals for power is very human-labor intensive.  You have to pay someone to do all of the husbandry duties.. and that's pretty far from cost efficient.

Corn for fuel is viable in one scenario..  burning it directly in a corn stove. (Similar to a pellet stove, but burns hotter so the starch doesn't gum up the works).  And it is good as an oxygenating additive into gasoline instead of the carcinogen MTBE.  Other than that?  It's a government farm-welfare boondoggle scam.

Answer 4

Try making biodiesel from freshwater algae. It works beyond our wildest dreams at SCIPIO Biofuels.