Old Topic: Ethanol

Old Topic: Ethanol

The ~It takes 30% more dino fuel to produce ethanol myth.

Talked to my brother about this a while back and told him I had trouble
finding credible sources for the quote. He told me:

~That is because some researchers at MIT questioned the clown who made
the claim about his raw data and proved he was wrong to the point of him
having to make a retraction. Good luck finding the retraction because it
wasn't nearly as newsworthy as the original false claims.

So today I am watching the Sundance Channel and they have their 'Green'
block on. Sure enough, this woman that appears to be quite the cutie
makes the 30% claim.

So I get off my butt and find the original article.
* petroleum.berkeley.edu/papers/Biofuels/NRRethanol.2005.pdf

Anyway, grew up in a farming family and career as a chemist so I feel
familiar with the material. I have to say I almost laughed out loud at
some of the numbers he used in his estimate. I mean he says 11.4 hours
labor equivalent to 462 kcalX1000 and 153kg nitrogen @ 2,448 kcalsX1000.
A hectare is only 100 meters^2!

Among the things he completely ignores are facts like nitrogen derived
from other sources are frequently used. Things like crop rotation with
alfalfa or beans, manure from dairy or feed lots, et cetera. You can't
equate nitrogen derived from clover with the Haber process. I've heard
the amount of fix nitrogen produced during electrical storms is
significant for instance.

There's other stuff like lime that is typically only used when
conditions dictate its use to correct a deficiency or adjust pH. You
don't use it if you don't have to an one application is liable to last
for decades vs. a yearly cost that everyone must bear.

Rick

Re: Old Topic: Ethanol

Rick Cortese <ricortes@earthlink . net > wrote:

> Anyway, grew up in a farming family and career as a chemist so I feel
> familiar with the material. I have to say I almost laughed out loud at
> some of the numbers he used in his estimate.

The tree-huggers do get it laughably wrong on occasion. What is worrying
is that so few people challenge their figures.


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