Homestead mailing list

[Don Bowen KI6DIU <don.bowen AT earthlink.net>]

At 10/7/2007, you wrote:
> Which is what farmers do, historically speaking. Ethanol seems to be
> having a hard ride just now with not enough product or market to keep
> new plants operational.

The basic problem is transportation.  Ethanol cannot be transported by 
existing pipelines and running new redesigned pipelines to the various 
distilleries scattered about is prohibitively expensive.  The tank cars, 
barges, and trailers have to be special purpose so cannot do back hauls.

Currently rail transport is choked because the major lines have been 
acquiring each other and not putting money into new trackage.  Several 
lines have long stretches of single line and the hope was that by combining 
lines one-way routes could be developed but that has not happened.  The 
traffic in containers from the west coast ports is a huge part of the 
overall load.

Truck traffic is also tight because of infrastructure problems and the 
expense.  Barge traffic is heavy in other products and the water routes 
tend to carry products to where ethanol is not needed.

> OTOH, the Germans are putting solar panels on all their roofs, more or less.

It is more than roofs, farmers are selling huge chunks of the countryside 
for solar panel and wind farms.  No matter how many solar panels or wind 
farms or what ever, nothing comes any where close to crude oil for energy 
invested vs energy returned and none will be able to fully replace the 
millions of gallons of motor fuel.



Don Bowen              Awl Knotted Up                       KI6DIU
http://www.braingarage.com