What other fuel is there? ethanol?

Question

i live near a plant that has recently closed down because it cost more to produce ethanol than the energy it produces.

they couldn't sell it and make a profit. ethanol my be practical some day, but in the mean time, oil is the only energy source we have. ethanol was pushed to buy votes, thats all.

Answer 1

There is no shortage of energy! The problem is that we do not want to pay a lot of money for it. By using fossil fuels irresponsibly we are not paying the true cost. If we were to include the environmental cost, it would be a lot more expensive. So by not doing that we are simply pushing the costs onto our children and their children who will be forced to pay hugely for our failure to pay the real cost. For the cost of the damage done will be way greater than the cost of fixing the problem now.

Ethanol has the potential to not only prevent additional CO2 entering the atmosphere, but to actually remove CO2 from the atmosphere. No other alternate fuel offers this.

During ethanol production by fermentation of bio materials, CO2 is a by product. It is produced as nearly 100% CO2 and so is easy to collect and store. This CO2 is from CO2 captured from the atmosphere by the plants providing the bio mass for fermentation.

Will it be economic? Depends on whether we are paying the real cost of fossil fuels or passing the cost onto future generations.

Even now in many parts of the world ethanol is economic without subsidies! Here is is produced form cassava planted on marginal land not suitable for other cash crops or food crops. A bit of genetic engineering on the yeasts and the cassava would improve yields even more. In other areas other non food crops grown on marginal land offer similar opportunities.

Converting food grade starches and sugars to fuel is a mugs game and no thinking person would propose such an idea. not when there is still an overall food shortage in the world.

Answer 2

HYDROGEN!!! WOOHOO

let me start off by saying Hydrogen is a great option for the concept of free energy.     I built my first hydrogen cell about 5 years ago. Have converted over 50 vehicles in the last 10 years (gydrogen and EV) and now currently run 2 trucks (and another EV), my home hot water heater, home stove and home generator on hydrogen for free with caught rain water and the help of a $10 solar panel.  I offer a step by step DIY guide to walk anyone interested threw the process. You can find it at www agua-luna com or you can email me.

There are basically 3 safe ways to make and use it... chemically, electrically and molecularly, the first 2 being easier so I'll only discuss them here. The fallowing steps were taking directly out of a DIY guide I offer to those who would like to run their vehicles or home on hydrogen safely. The entire guide is available at www agua-luna com

    On demand h2 generators are a bit different from the Hollywood versions like seen Chain Reaction with Keanu Reeves, that tend to explode violently every time a film is being made. However when used in an on-demand system there is no storage of hydrogen and oxygen in its gas form, only liquid (water) and is only transformed into gas “on-demand” in small cylinder size amounts. It’s actually safer then gasoline as it doesn’t evaporate, creating explosive fumes in the tank like gas. the following were actually taken out of my $5 guide available at www agua-luna com

    Chemically

    1. You’ll need a 6inch x 1ft schedule 40 pvc pipe. With pvc cement glue a cap on the bottom and use a s***w on cap for the top. Drill a small hole (1/4inch or so) in the side close to the top, s******g in a small copper shut off valve. Place a few feet of stranded (food grade is good) flex hose to the valve and into the air intake of your engine (carburetor or fuel injections).

    2. Now crunch up a couple aluminum cans (beer cans, soda cans etc) and drop them into the pvc pipe, along with a couple cups of lye (Red Devil drain opener has lye in it, some Clorox and Drano’s do to).

    3. Then simply add water, s***w on the top and wait a few minutes.

    What happens in simplicity is that aluminum and lye don’t really get along so they battle, and as always the innocent civilians (water H2O) that the most casualties, by giving up its hydrogen and oxygen. This then builds up in the void of the pipe and is ready to be vented into your engine, by opening the valve. You may need to start your engine on gas then switch it off after the hydrogen starts burning.

    Electrical is a bit easier then Chemically.

    1. Simply take a small solar panel 1.5 amps is what I use ($9 at harborfreight.com), connect the 2 wires from the panel +- to 2 conductors (carbon cores of batteries work well, just be careful removing it from the jacket), but any conductive material will work ie. Copper, aluminum, steel, etc.

    2. Drop the wires into a water tank (I use 55gal drums), make sure they don’t touch each other.

    3. Drill a small hole (1/4inch or so) in the side close to the top, s******g in a small copper shut off valve. Place a few feet of stranded (food grade is good) flex hose to the valve and into the air intake of your engine (carburetor or fuel injections).

    4. Then simply add water, s***w on the top cap and wait.

    After a few hours tiny bubbles will form and rise off one conductor (that’s hydrogen) and even smaller bubbles that just looks like foam will rise off the other (oxygen). I don’t remember which likes the positive and which likes the neg hydrogen or the oxygen.

    The third method is more complicated and is what I use for my vehicles. It’s just a modified Joe’s Cell, there’s a step by step DIY guide available to walk you threw the process here www agua-luna com

It also covers the other 2 methods described in more detail.

www agua-luna com

Hope this helped, feel free to contact me personally if you have any questions if you’d like assistance in making your first self sufficient steps, I’m willing to walk you step by step threw the process. I’ve written several how-to DIY guides available at  www agua-luna com on the subject. I also offer online and on-site workshops, seminars and internships to help others help the environment.

Dan Martin

Alterative Energy / Sustainable Consultant, Living 100% on Alternative & Author of How One Simple Yet Incredibly Powerful Resource Is Transforming The Lives of Regular People From All Over The World... Instantly Elevating Their Income & Lowering Their Debt, While Saving The Environment by Using FREE ENERGY... All With Just One Click of A Mouse...For more info Visit:  

www AGUA-LUNA com

Stop Global Warming!!!

Answer 3

Alternative ENERGY sources:

- Solar power

- Wind power

- Wave power

- Nuclear power

- Geothermal energy

Alternative FUELS:

- Hydrogen

- Electricity

Answer 4

Algae Biofuel

-With our current biodiesel feedstocks, like soy and palm, there’s no way we could grow enough to supply all of our transportation needs.  In fact, it would actually require twice the land area of the US devoted to soybean production to meet current heating and transportation needs.

-Algae, on the other hand, could supply all U.S. diesel power using a mere 0.2% of the nation’s land.

-Enough algae can be grown to replace all transportation fuels in the U.S. on only 15,000 square miles or 4.5 million acres of land.

- Algae is the highest yielding feedstock for biodiesel, producing 24 times more oil per acre, on average, than the next leading feedstock--palm oil at 635 gallons/acre/year.

-One company can produce 180,000 gallons of biodiesel every year from just one acre of algae. That comes to about 4,000 barrels, at a cost of $25 per barrel or $.59 per gallon.

-To put that in perspective, it takes 3,750 acres of soy to make the same amount of biodiesel at a cost of about $2.50 per barrel for 4,000 barrels.

-It is possible to use human sewage and wastewater from agricultural endeavors to enhance the growth of algae.  In fact, when done right, algae can double and even triple overnight with the addition of these fertilizers.

-Plus, as algae grows it absorbs C02 from the air.

-In addition, fertilizer for other food crops can be produced by using the leftover nutrients that aren’t used to make the biofuel.

Answer 5

if your into alternate things then check out black light hydrinos they're a great fuel source and would cost less weigh less and produce no waste compared to all current fuels.

Answer 6

Ever hear of a "lobbyist" ?

Special interests NEED the ethanol laws to pad their pockets..

In 1776 we started over again.

Now , we have no place to run to...

Corruption is rampant in government & it can not be controlled...

It is just human nature.

If cars would run on pure water, the price of water would be $4.00 per gallon...Really....

Answer 7

wvo,its free

Answer 8

It is useable as a fuel, but guess who bought up all the  Hydrogen producing facilities in the USA?    the  BIG oil companies!

Because big oil companies have a huge infrastructure already in place for diesel and gasoline.  They are not about to change it for nothing.

We won't  see very much done with H2 because big oil won't allow it.

Answer 9

You've received a few good answers that address the actual economics from an energy in-out perspective.  The bigger issue is the extent we commit our food producing resources to produce energy.  Which is more important?  Algea farms that don't require critically important and vanishing farmland, may be an alternative source for bio-mass fuels.  I think you are right about using a technology such as ethanol as a tool for politics and profit-taking.

Many people speak of alternatative energy as being anything that isn't coal, petroleum, or nuclear.  Proponents of most alternatives tend to have blinders on when it comes to the ultimate viability of their personal choice...leading to denial, confusion, and delays with a pursuit of a "best choice for humanity".

Answer 10

There are lots of fuels out there, LP (liquid propane), which isn’t the greenest fuel out there but it’s a better alternative to regular oil fuels. Another is hydrogen cells; I am not that familiar with but from what understand and read it’s not quit there to be in regular production, in my own opinion when dealing with hydrogen I keep thinking of the Hindenburg but maybe it’s gotten a lot safer like I said I am not too familiar with it. Another fuel is biodiesel, in my opinion this is the best alternative so far. Many people say it cuts into food prices but it doesn’t at all, the highest yielding (over 10,000 gallons per acre) source for biodiesel is algae and it can be grown on lands that are unsuitable for farmland.  Biodiesel can be used in any diesel engine so a new type of car doesn’t have to de designed.  If you already own a diesel you can use bio-diesel with no problems and little to no modifications. Until algae starts on large scale of production you can make your own biodiesel using any organic oil, myself, I use used cooking oil from the local fast food joints, and have been running it in my truck for almost a year now. You can get on www.biodiesel.org to find out more.

Answer 11

Alternative ENERGY sources:

- Solar power

- Wind power

- Wave power

- Nuclear power

- Geothermal energy

Alternative FUELS:

- Hydrogen

- Electricity

Look when you start a new thing like the alternative fuels they pretty costly to start up and the US Government says it not profitable, think about this when anybody whether it be you or a company or the US economy starting something new is costly but if for the better then it will go down sometime that is why the economy is failing

Answer 12

The one made from corn is no good, it requires too much energy to produce.  Cell based ethanol is the future, although i prefer electricity.

Answer 13

vegetable oil, diesel, kerosene