Skip to Content.
Sympa Menu

homestead - Re: [Homestead] gas prices

homestead AT lists.ibiblio.org

Subject: Homestead mailing list

List archive

Chronological Thread  
  • From: "Jerry W. Shepperd" <shepperd AT austincc.edu>
  • To: homestead AT lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: Re: [Homestead] gas prices
  • Date: Thu, 07 Jun 2007 23:11:16 -0500


Brazil produces 35 percent of all ethanol and the U.S. produces 37 percent, and in both cases, production and consumption occur domestically. However, as several people on this list have noted, ethanol, as it is currently produced, is not likely to come close to solving the U.S.'s need, not to mention the world's need, for energy. There are at least three reasons. First, Brazil's use of sugarcane and the U.S.'s use of corn use only the food portion of the plant. The stalks, cobs, and leaves, which are approximately 90 percent of the plant, are not used in the production of ethanol. Some Brazilian farmers burn the stalk and leaves to power electric generators, but in the U.S., the stalk and leaves of the corn crop are left in the field. Second, at the moment, there is no viable or economical way to get the corn stalk and leaves to a processing plant. If only the food portion of corn is used, food costs will likelyrise, because cropland will be diverted from producing other crops to producing corn. This is already happening in Mexico, where corn for ethanol is being sold to the U.S., and the price of tortillas has risen significantly. In addition, even if all available cropland were used to produce corn, the food portion of corn would not be enough to make a significant impact on the amount of petroleum used.

Third, even if the infrastructure were present, the cost of breaking down the cellulose of the stalk into ethanol at the moment is about $2.25 per gallon, although it has dropped significantly over the past ten years.

This past weekend, at a June 3-5 conference in Brazil, Brazilian researchers announced that they have refined the process and reduced the cost of processing cellulose to approximately 50 cents per gallon, although it has not confirmed independently. If the claim is true, then not only is it economically feasible to process the entire corn stalk, other biomass crops, such as hemp or switchgrass can also be processed.

At the moment, however, as James, Gene, Don, and several others have said, while multiple sources of alternative energy are necessary, conservation is still the single best approach.


Forget injuries, never forget kindnesses.
-- Confucius

He is a man of sense who does not grieve for what he has not, but rejoices in what he has.
-- Epictetus

What matters is not what you learn but what you teach.
-- Michael Josephson

Live simply. Love generously. Care deeply. Speak kindly.
Leave the rest to God...








Archive powered by MHonArc 2.6.24.

Top of Page