Substitute for Oil

news.bbc.co.uk...

Hugo Chavez talks to Fidel Castro in the tv show "Hello Presidente"

Castro: [Interrupting] Yes. You have been reading for a long while. You have great talent to keep it all in, to remember everything. The only thing you sometimes forget is figures.

Chavez: I forget numbers but not that much.

Castro: However, you have them all bookmarked and never miss one. It is not easy to keep up with you.

Chavez: Do you know how many hectares of corn are needed to produce one million barrels of ethanol?

Castro: To do what?

Chavez: To produce one million barrels of ethanol?

Castro: Ethanol. I believe you told me about that the other day. Somewhere around 20 million hectares.

[edit on 28-2-2007 by pai mei]

Hempseed oil could be used to replace oil

I was watching a video where a guy was using biodiesel. He was using Amsoil synthetic, and was allmost completely free of using petroleum in his vehicle.

And you can actually make your own fuel using pretty much a moonshine type still. This is alcohol fuel. You can get permits to do this legally, but not to drink. I think there is some modification to the car needed.

So, basically you can make fuel for diesel and gasoline cars.

Troy

I'm a strong advocate for alternative fuels. The idea that bio fuels could be made from corn however is flawed. As has been pointed out, corn raised for fuel might actually raise the price of food -- primarily cattle. This is why raising alternative, non food crops, would be preferred. To this end, hemp and, perhaps the fast growing weed, kudzu, might be the best bio fuel alternatives.

[edit on 3/22/2007 by benevolent tyrant]

There has also been research into algae biofuel, and algae that produce hydrogen.

We have plenty of energy sources. We can ween ourself of the oil mafia.

Troy

Hemp is not very good for biodiesel producton too. There are many other crops better suited for this role. You're right about corn too - corn energy balance is just 1.3 - that means you gain just 1.3 ethanol per 1 gallon of oil. Switchgrass is much better option for ethanol production.

Fuel is easy, so consider the substitute for chemical feedstocks. There's a tough a one.

let me suggest taking into account two aspects, namely


soil depletion: www.abovetopsecret.com...

and

synthetic fertilizer: www.fromthewilderness.com...



burning by- and waste products is a good idea and it should be done, as long as its energy balance is actually positive (therefore cost efficient) and is environmentally friendly (no cutting down forsts, in the amazon or elsewhere).

turns out most variants propagated today are falling short, especially biofuels from crops. these are failed technologies and (imho) our best bet for now is to reduce usage of oil products for stationary use, such as heating, then switch over to natural gas and derivatives while exploring ways to safely harvest methane hydrate fields.

the stored methane is released soner or later anyway, f we burn it to water and CO2, the effect is actually less than that of methane, in terms of GHG emissions by a factor of ~20. not that i believe in the global warming scare, but i have a weak spot for win-win situations.

yay or nay?


PS:

Originally posted by etotheitheta
Fuel is easy, so consider the substitute for chemical feedstocks. There's a tough a one.

looks like we'll have to do without plastic then. who's going to miss it? /jk

i'm inclined to say that tons of (badly sorted) resources are potentially available in landfills, albeit at significant cost.

[edit on 28.3.2007 by Long Lance]