Homestead mailing list

[Clansgian AT wmconnect.com]

> You get about 1.3 units of energy for each unit of energy invested in 
> ethanol.  You get about 2 units with biodiesel.

Don, the rest of your comment sums up the real problem.  If we converted all 
our food into motor fuel, we'd still only replace a small per cent of the 
total we use.  In fact at present, we'd not even keep up with the increase in 
fuel 
usage.

But the above proffered figures are cooked.  The 1.3 comes from the notion 
that after you malt or enzyme treat the corn, you can use the spent grains 
for 
livestock feed and since raising livestock feed uses a certain amount of oil, 
you are saving that.  But notice I said "energy-wise".  Right now you get the 
energy equivalent of .9 gallons of ethanol out of every 1.0 gallons (energy 
equivalent) you use producint it.  It is a net loss.  But the thinking is, it 
would take the energy equivalent of .4 gallons to make the livestock feed you 
have left over so the retrun is 1.3.

The trouble is, the ability to use the acidic spent grains is limited.  Very 
soon we would become saturated with spent distillery grains with nothing to 
do 
with them if fuel ethanol continues unabated.  At that point ethanol becomes 
a net loss and the byproducts a liability.

The same is true of biodiesel especially from soybeans.  What's left over are 
press cake for livestock feed and plastic manufacture.  Same thing though, 
soon you have so much you can't use it and the energy return goes down.  Just 
on 
a straight up energy-in/energy-out  soybeans to biodiesel is closer to 1.2 to 
1.

James   </HTML>