Cellulosic ethanol: A fuel for the future?

Question

What do you think?

Answer 1

Definitely.

The trick is of course, to breed/engineer the right strains of yeast/microbes to ferment the Cellulose.

For those that don't know what is being talked about here. Common ethanol is brewed by fermenting simple starches and sugars. The common "brewers" yeasts do the work.

With the right strains of yeast/microbes, basically any plant fiber can be fermented.(grain stalks, leaves, paper, wood, etc etc) Not just the crop. Ethanol can then be distilled from the "wash" (fermented soup).

It is probably a little closer than you might expect. I've read a few reports on promising developments recently.

This link has more detail

http://www.fpl.fs.fed.us/documnts/pdf199...

Answer 2

If it is to used in conjunction with a fuel cell, then no problems with me! Otherwise, they are emiting even more green house gases than normal cars... So little purposed here!!

Answer 3

You're exactly right.  Ethanol made from grain will never be cost effective, or a net energy producer.  That will come when someone finds a way to make it from the silage (cellulose).  There was a great article about this in Scientific American earlier this year.

Answer 4

I think someone should invent a garbage powered engine like the Delorian in Back to the Future.

Answer 5

I'd love to see Wood Alcohol make a comeback. And, suddenly landfills would become treasure troves to be mined for the grass clippings, old newspapers and McDonalds wrapper to fuel our economy.

Wouldn't work in Russia, though--they'd drink it all. During the Cold War, a quarter of all Soviet Fighter squadrons were inoperable at any given time because the crews had drunk the de-icing fluid.

Sender 98. All Alcohols are the waste products of yeast digesting sugar, Cellulose, is a complex sugar that makes up most of the structure of plants.

Answer 6

Cellulostic ethanol would get rid of tons of yard waste and provide ethanol fuel for America without threatening the nation's food supply.

What's even better than cellulostic ethanol, is cellulostic butanol, it's properties are ridiculously close to gasoline and it can be made from the exact same stuff as ethanol.

Gasoline has an energy content of 120,000 BTUs per gallon. Ethanol has only 70,000 BTUs per gallon. Because ethanol has less energy per gallon, you get less miles per gallon. Butanol has 118,000 BTUs per gallon which makes your gas mileage about the same as gas.

Answer 7

I can make Diesel for 15 cents a gallon using waste grease from restaurants (deep frying waste)... how do I know ?  I did it... but nobody listens... all one needs is methanol, NaOH and a paint mixer and a heater...

the easiest way to make a fortune in no time at all ? buy Tyler at what he is really worth and sell him for what he thinks he is worth... easy money... zhee Scherman Enscheeneers have figured out how to make fuels from garbage 70 years ago, that eez one of zhe reasons why their cars are such pitiful excuse for trasportation now... BMW ??? Mercedes ??? VW ??? (S)Audi ??? give me a brake, plase... zhey recently figured out how to make garbage out of cars...

the Brits have Lucas Electric LTD (also known as the prince of darkness)

Answer 8

I don't know what the Cellulosic means (is this just regular ethanol like the kind in E85?)  Well new studies are showing that while the emissions from ethanol aren't the same as burning gasoline, they're really just as bad (if not worse).  There just wasn't lage scale study on those emissions until now.  So no, ethanol isn't the fuel of the future, sadly it's just a fuel to stem our dependency on foreign oil.

Answer 9

Economic production of ethanol from cellulosic biomass is still in the research phase and commercial development is still years away if, in fact, it ever becomes possible.

Answer 10

Oh boy... Herr Durden is up to something again. I hope it's not another venture to dominate the world.

Answer 11

An external combustion engine for fat...brilliant!

Answer 12

What is the motivation for this question I wonder?. Are you thinking of composting all your old BDSM gimp suits to make fuel for that Tiger tank?

Answer 13

It's a great concept much better than using edible grains. They'll always be an abundance of garden waste and scrap wood. Once they figure out how to cheaply produce enough of the enzymes necessary it'll take off and become a big business.

Answer 14

If they can make this happen by using other plants and plant by-products other than corn and soybeans, it would be great. The current demand for corn and soybeans to create ethanol has driven up prices for these commodities. It is great for the grain farmers of America, but terrible for consumers. Since more and more grain is needed for fuel, less is being made into livestock feed, thus raising the price for beef, poultry, and swine. If we could make ethanol out of ordinary yard waste, such as grass clippings and tree limbs, then we would be totally self-sustaning as a country in regards to fuel.

Answer 15

Infinite energy for America.