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Car Forum / Driving, Maintenance, Tuning / Driving / December 2007Why don't we grow sugar cane in the South and get ethanol from that?
Brazil grows cane and gets all their ethanol from that and it works out great since cane can be almost completely converted into ethanol. America couldn't do that in the midwest since it's too dry there but cane will grow in our southern states. Assuming this georgia drought ever ends. SFB spewed: > Brazil grows cane and gets all their ethanol from that and it works out > great since cane can be almost completely converted into ethanol. America > couldn't do that in the midwest since it's too dry there but cane will grow > in our southern states. Assuming this georgia drought ever ends. Because all the prime land down here is being snapped up by carpet bagger developers who are building mcmansions for carpet baggers like you who keep moving down here. That's why.  SignatureLBMHB/lb-VH/SADDAM supports the troops: "Like hell. The Morons will just get a couple other jarheads to take the place of these two. " --Speeders & Drunk Drivers Are MURDERERS, Sept 13, 2006 10:43PM Ref: http://tinyurl.com/y6gbk2 Message ID: dujhg25i1fecsoh791df5qe1fmk7fiu0na@4ax.com > SFB spewed: > [quoted text clipped - 7 lines] > bagger developers who are building mcmansions for carpet baggers like > you who keep moving down here. That's why. Maybe it's time to stop subsidizing wealthy sugar farmers at the expense of the American treasury and consumer >> SFB spewed: >> [quoted text clipped - 10 lines] > Maybe it's time to stop subsidizing wealthy sugar farmers at the expense > of the American treasury and consumer Corn farmers are far more subsidized. > Brazil grows cane and gets all their ethanol from that and it works out > great since cane can be almost completely converted into ethanol. America > couldn't do that in the midwest since it's too dry there but cane will > grow > in our southern states. Assuming this georgia drought ever ends. Actually sugar cane is grown in parts of the south (the warmer parts of Florida, Louisiana, Texas). I don't think much Georgia, Alabama, and Mississippi have the soils, temperatures, and rainfall needed to competitively grow sugar cane, although it would not surprise me if some is grown in those states as well. I was in extreme south Texas this past summer and sugar cane was a big crop, but it was all heavily irrigated. Sugar cane cannot stand freezing temperatures, so any area with cold weather is not suitable for commercial production. Sugar cane also needs lots of water (24 inches per year) and that much rainfall is not common in most of the south outside of coastal areas. Here in North Carolina, along the coast people raise "molasses cane" which is just a sort of sugar cane, but it had to be replanted every year and didn't produce the amount of sugar that cane grown in warmer/wetter climates produce. IF your goal is ethanol production, there are potentially better materials to use. It seems that eventually a process will be developed to produce ethanol from wood chips and grasses. When these process are commercially viable, there will be lots of material available in the south. In my part of NC pine trees grow like weeds. Ed >. Sugar > cane also needs lots of water (24 inches per year) and that much > rainfall is not common in most of the south outside of coastal areas. Like hell - all the southern states east of TX get over 24 inches everywhere in the state. A lot more. You are a climatalogical ignoramus. > IF your goal is ethanol production, there > are potentially better materials to use. It seems that eventually a process > will be developed to produce ethanol from wood chips and grasses. When these > process are commercially viable, there will be lots of material available in > the south. In my part of NC pine trees grow like weeds. That ethanol from cellulose process already exists and is producing fuel right here in Indiana. > Brazil grows cane and gets all their ethanol from that and it works out > great since cane can be almost completely converted into ethanol. America > couldn't do that in the midwest since it's too dry there but cane will > grow in our southern states. Assuming this georgia drought ever > ends. Brazil has 3, maybe 4, cars. > Brazil has 3, maybe 4, cars. Well, they've made good use of them, considering their prominence in F1 and some other racing series... Seriously: their auto industry is said to be growing considerably. Guesstrapolating from 2006 figures, they probably now have 20+ million cars on the road (probably something like 1.5-2 million of which are flex-fuel vehicles) and plan to be building 3 million cars a year by the end of the decade. (That would be maybe 20 years after economic reforms revived the industry and 10 after a macroeconomic stumble hurt this and other industries there.) Some sources suggest that besides the burgeoning home market for cars -- said to be growing at 3-4x the pace of their overall economy, suggesting to me a threshold in their ability to buy cars and a lot of pent-up demand -- they hope to become an exporter to other Latin American nations, which together make up one of the world's fastest growing automotive markets. As for US production of sugar cane, I would guess that places where the plant will grow efficiently enough to make economic sense are limited to the seriously subtropical parts, even if it *can* be grown elsewhere. It's also said to be labor-intensive to harvest -- one of the crops that has most defied mechanization. The fact that it's commercially grown in the continental US at all is rife with colorful politics, as some others have pointed out. One gathers that there are also some resource conservation and ethics issues associated with greatly ramping up its production to meet biofuel demands even in tropical/subtropical places like Brazil. Cheers, --Joe > Brazil grows cane and gets all their ethanol from that and it works out > great since cane can be almost completely converted into ethanol. America > couldn't do that in the midwest since it's too dry there but cane will grow > in our southern states. Assuming this georgia drought ever ends. What an original idea! Wait a minute, that idea is part of the new CBS show "Cane" (Tuesday @ 10/9c). In the show, Jimmy Smits is the Cuban-born head of a family-owned company that grows Sugar Cane (hence the name of the show) and produces Rum. He is working with a U.S. Senator to get government subsidies for a Cane to Ethanol plant when the Senator suddenly resigns in disgrace (sounds like someone from Idaho!) and the support for subsidies evaporates. > > Brazil grows cane and gets all their ethanol from that and it works out > > great since cane can be almost completely converted into ethanol. America [quoted text clipped - 11 lines] > resigns in disgrace (sounds like someone from Idaho!) and the support > for subsidies evaporates. HEY!! Don't go cutting into the supply of rum just so that SFB can have cheap ethanol! SignatureLoco Laura demonstrates how inconsistent its thinking is: "and besides there is no way to enforce slow driving speed limits. THINK" --Laura Bush murdered her boyfriend, 1/30/06 Message ID: <1138602667.405570.55400@g43g2000cwa.googlegroups.com> >> Brazil grows cane and gets all their ethanol from that and it works out >> great since cane can be almost completely converted into ethanol. America [quoted text clipped - 11 lines] >resigns in disgrace (sounds like someone from Idaho!) and the support >for subsidies evaporates. You have to remember that SADDAM gets it's ideas from fiction. Just like SADDAM believes that the movie "COMA" is documentary. :-) -- Great minds discuss ideas, average minds discuss events, small minds discuss people. - Admiral Hyman Rickover, U.S. Navy > Brazil grows cane and gets all their ethanol from that and it works out > great since cane can be almost completely converted into ethanol. America > couldn't do that in the midwest since it's too dry there but cane will grow > in our southern states. Assuming this georgia drought ever ends. * Ethanol production should be halted post haste. 1- It takes more energy to produce than it provides 2- Ethanol production has inflated the cost of food staples reducing the quality of life of the lower income half of the population On Nov 21, 1:47 pm, last_p...@rogers.com wrote: > On Nov 20, 2:45 pm, "Speeders & Drunk Drivers are MURDERERS" > [quoted text clipped - 9 lines] > staples reducing the quality of life of the lower > income half of the population (Maybe people can't see my posts or somthin..) Let me try again: That ethanol from CELLULOSE process already EXISTS and is PRODUCING FUEL.. right here in Indiana. Rait NOW ! >> Brazil grows cane and gets all their ethanol from that and it works out >> great since cane can be almost completely converted into ethanol. America [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] > staples reducing the quality of life of the lower > income half of the population As long as you're only referring to ethanol production for fuel. I'd have to object to halting production of ethanol for human consumption. SignatureThere's no such thing as a free lunch, but certain accounting practices can result in a fully-depreciated one. >Brazil grows cane and gets all their ethanol from that and it works out >great since cane can be almost completely converted into ethanol. America >couldn't do that in the midwest since it's too dry there but cane will grow >in our southern states. Assuming this georgia drought ever ends. It's only a matter of time before hydrogen is the most practical solution. Below is a site describing a new process they have to extract hydrogen, on demand, directly from water using an aluminum and gallium alloy. http://www.physorg.com/news98556080.html ------------------------------------------------- Instead of wasting your free time on the Internet. Make a little free cash while your at it. http://www.topgetpaid.com/ >It's only a matter of time before hydrogen is the most practical >solution. Below is a site describing a new process they have to >extract hydrogen, on demand, directly from water using an aluminum and >gallium alloy. The fuel in that system is aluminum, not hydrogen. SignatureThere's no such thing as a free lunch, but certain accounting practices can result in a fully-depreciated one. >>It's only a matter of time before hydrogen is the most practical >>solution. Below is a site describing a new process they have to >>extract hydrogen, on demand, directly from water using an aluminum and >>gallium alloy. > >The fuel in that system is aluminum, not hydrogen. Well it's the fuel that makes the hydrogen which then is the fuel that runs your car. Best of all, according to this article, it is a fuel that can be recycled. This alloy solution solves the big problem of storing and transporting hydrogen. All you need is the energy to process and recycle the medals. Solar and Geothermal energy solutions are getting better everyday. Here are a couple links on Geothermal technology. It's looks promising to me. This clean source of energy beneath our feet is limitless, all we have to do is get to it and use it. http://www.geodynamics.com.au/IRM/content/home.html http://www1.eere.energy.gov/geothermal/powerplants.html ------------------------------------------------- Instead of wasting your free time on the Internet. Make a little free cash while your at it. http://www.topgetpaid.com/ >>>It's only a matter of time before hydrogen is the most practical >>>solution. Below is a site describing a new process they have to [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] >runs your car. Best of all, according to this article, it is a fuel >that can be recycled. Sure. And you know how you recycle the fuel? Through application of massive quantities of electricity to reduce the alumina. This would be a great step, except that -- guess what? -- electricity sources are fossil fuel dependent as well. If you can get nuclear generation on a massive scale, maybe you have something. Until then, you're just shifting the issue to somewhere without the capacity to absorb it. Or you could just do the fuel production in China; they can burn the dirtiest coal around with no pollution controls in order to do it economically. That's probably not what you're looking for. >This alloy solution solves the big problem of >storing and transporting hydrogen. All you need is the energy to >process and recycle the medals. If I have the energy, I can do all sorts of things less exotic than the aluminum-hydrogen process. Methanol synthesis, for instance. The trick is getting the energy in the first place. >Solar and Geothermal energy solutions are getting better everyday. >Here are a couple links on Geothermal >technology. It's looks promising to me. This clean source of energy >beneath our feet is limitless, all we have to do is get to it and use >it. Geothermal is not limitless. And there isn't enough of it available to run any significant number of cars. And as soon as you start tapping it, environmentalists scream. SignatureThere's no such thing as a free lunch, but certain accounting practices can result in a fully-depreciated one. |
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