New Fuels from plant material!

[TOM4CWB]

UC Berkeley has found new ways to make fuels!

<object id="otvPlayer" width="400" height="268"><param name="movie" value="http://cdn.abclocal.go.com/static/flash/embeddedPlayer/swf/otvEmLoader.swf?version=fw1000&station=kgo&section =&mediaId=8879279&parentId=8879289&cdnRoot=http://cdn.abclocal.go.com&webRoot=http://abclocal.go.com&configPath=/util/&site=" ></param><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"></param><param name="allowNetworking" value="all"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><embed id="otvPlayer" width="400" height="268" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allownetworking="all" allowfullscreen="true" src="http://cdn.abclocal.go.com/static/flash/embeddedPlayer/swf/otvEmLoader.swf?version=fw1000&station=kgo&section =&mediaId=8879279&parentId=8879289&cdnRoot=http://cdn.abclocal.go.com&webRoot=http://abclocal.go.com&configPath=/util/&site="></embed></object>

[sumdumguy]

Interesting, is it algae or hemp?

You hear a lot about algae, but you gotta
wonder, algae has to be grown in sufficient
supply. Northern climates are out. And then it will
have to harvested, transported and processed, so
economics make me suspect that it is not feasible
just like grain.

But then hemp is another story.

There is a race to develop fuel alternatives, but is
this deja vu?

[ColevilleH2S]

I remember promises of Fusion energy only being 5
to 10 years away, when I was a kid in the seventies.
So when I hear that phrase now four decades later, I
tend to roll my eyes.

They didn't even have a lab sample to show off!

[TOM4CWB]

Sumdumguy,

Looks like they said any plant material will work. The basics have been around since the process was created in the early 1900's. New extraction tec makes it much more energy efficeint now. It would be nice if we could turn the old deadfall trees into transport fuel!

[bucket]

It seems that anything can be made into fuel with the right process.

Interesting, whatever the US is doing must be working because last night on the national, it was reported that the US is going to be self-sufficient in oil and gas within a few years.

The bigger problem was for Canada and how to find a place for its oil in the marketplace. Maybe the pipeline to the west makes more sense than Keystone.

[Burbert]

We were all supposed to be using flying
cars by the year 2000 toooooo!

[Hopperbin]

I think the guy was trying to secure his job for the next year. It takes a lot of energy to get that straw etc to the bio fuel plant. And it is not free either.