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Hybrid Vehicles Hybrid Vehicles - Archived Discussions Will ethanol E85 catch on in the US? Will we Live Green and Go Yellow? 
2104 messages, Last post on Oct 27, 2006 at 5:34 AM
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Replying to: mullins87 (Mar 29, 2006 5:27 pm) According to people who follow that sort of thing the average acre of land produces 160.4 bushels of Corn. Typically we can rotate corn every other year to every third year. OK so with about 362 Million acres of farmland in the US being rotated every third year would mean that 120.67 million acres a year. producing 19.35 Billion Bushels which would yield just under 46.5 billion gallons. Thats short of the 52.89 billion gallons we would need (presuming everyone drives plug in FFV prius). Yes we can produce a lot more corn but it still won't be enough. Also remember we need to grow food to eat. |
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Replying to: mullins87 (Mar 29, 2006 5:27 pm)
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Replying to: marmil1 (Mar 29, 2006 8:07 pm) |
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Replying to: snakeweasel (Mar 29, 2006 12:25 pm) That was said many times at the beginning of the last century as well as many times during it. Don't write off the ICE so easily.
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Replying to: turboshadow (Mar 30, 2006 9:21 am) Even the most optimistic forecasts give us 75 years worth of oil left. Ethanol and biodiesel cannot replace it, only extend it. Add to that the rapid pace of technological advancement (compare 2001 with 1901) we should be able to replace the ICE by centuries end.
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Replying to: snakeweasel (Mar 30, 2006 9:43 am) That is not exactly true. Is it feasible would be more the case. The University of New Hampshire says we can produce enough biodiesel with growing algae in the desert south west, to supply our vehicle needs. we found that to replace all transportation fuels in the US, we would need 140.8 billion gallons of biodiesel, or roughly 19 quads (one quad is roughly 7.5 billion gallons of biodiesel). To produce that amount would require a land mass of almost 15,000 square miles. To put that in perspective, consider that the Sonora desert in the southwestern US comprises 120,000 square miles. Enough biodiesel to replace all petroleum transportation fuels could be grown in 15,000 square miles, or roughly 12.5 percent of the area of the Sonora desert (note for clarification - I am not advocating putting 15,000 square miles of algae ponds in the Sonora desert. This hypothetical example is used strictly for the purpose of showing the scale of land required). That 15,000 square miles works out to roughly 9.5 million acres - far less than the 450 million acres currently used for crop farming in the US, and the over 500 million acres used as grazing land for farm animals. UNH study
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Replying to: snakeweasel (Mar 29, 2006 2:30 pm) Even going to the station near Wrigley Field is out, I'm a south-sider so driving is out. Plus it's baseball season too; I don't have to tell you how traffic is over there.
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Replying to: snakeweasel (Mar 29, 2006 12:25 pm) Don't forget that the ICE can run on hydrogen. BMW is pursuing this option. And hydrogen can be made from nuclear, wind or solar energy. |
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Replying to: gagrice (Mar 30, 2006 10:16 am) |
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