Comments on: E85 Boondoggle of the Day: Ethanol From Garbage Breakthrough. In Theory.

By: EJ_San_Fran

EJ_San_Fran — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 04:01:16 +0000

They’d better get at it.
The last time I checked that company had only 5 employees.

By: SunnyvaleCA

SunnyvaleCA — Mon, 01 Sep 2008 21:29:54 +0000

dwford: “We are attempting this transition backwards by producing the fuel without the means to consume it. ”

I’d say quite the opposite: we are attempting this transition backwards by requiring billions of gallons consumed with no effective way to produce it. If we could effectively (cheaply) produce the stuff then most of the problems would take care of themselves. It would take very little effort to produce cars that were E85 capable and had a 40 gallon tank (so you only had to find an E85 pump once a month).

The amount of ethanol produced from this plant and the next 20 plants will be so small in the grand scheme of things that it is really just a government-funded cellulose experiment. I’m OK with that, given how many taxpayer dollars go into pork-barrel projects that have absolutely no chance of doing any good for the country as a whole.

By: Corvair

Corvair — Mon, 01 Sep 2008 15:45:17 +0000

The acid digestion piece of this process has been around for almost a century. Maybe the new bits like chromatographic separation will tip the scales, but I wouldn’t bet the kids’ college savings on it.

For commentary on several of these ethanol from cheap-or-free stuff ideas, peruse Robert Rapier’s R Squared Energy Blog
http://i-r-squared.blogspot.com/

By: UnclePete

UnclePete — Mon, 01 Sep 2008 13:53:49 +0000

dastanley: It would sure be nice if the company is successful and can actually produce E85 from garbage.

Some of us would argue E85 is garbage… no, I am not convinced about ethanol in any form.

If I was to bet on the furthest-out technology to create fuel, I still like the algae to fuel prospect. Algae production takes up less space than corn production, less impact on food sources, and would deliver a product that could use the current infrastructure. Even if it was cheaper to produce from garbage, ethanol will still have significant transportation and storage issues.

By: dwford

dwford — Mon, 01 Sep 2008 12:10:02 +0000

Any ethanol plan remains a boondoggle until the government requires that all cars and trucks be flex fuel. Once that mandate is in place, gas stations will have an incentive to put in E85 pumps, and a market will develop for the fuel. We are attempting this transition backwards by producing the fuel without the means to consume it. There is only some much gasoline to dilute ethanol into at the E10 mix we are using now.

By: NulloModo

NulloModo — Mon, 01 Sep 2008 01:37:29 +0000

Whether it works or not I’d say it’s worth the investment, tax-payer based or not. We will need combustible fuels for the forseeable future, and with overall petroleum prices having nowhere to go but up it makes sense to do as much R&D right now to find some cheaper (and preferably renewable) alternatives so that they have time to develop before there is actually a true supply crisis.

Yes some will be political buggaboos, and some will just plain old not work, but trial and error is the best of way of reaching success with new technology, and error is unfortunately just part of the equation.

By: Robert Schwartz

Robert Schwartz — Mon, 01 Sep 2008 01:26:08 +0000

Try this as an entry point to cellulosic hype.

By: chuckgoolsbee

chuckgoolsbee — Sun, 31 Aug 2008 16:35:17 +0000

Insert Inevitable “Back to the Future” Mr. Fusion Joke Here.

As much as I’d like to see a ‘Manhattan Project” style effort to find the next portable power source to put the petroleum based economy behind us, I think that subsidizing dubious stuff on a one-off basis isn’t the way to go. If you want to have a place to start looking forget the company’s web site and start with the congresscritter’s earmarks in the Congressional Record. Look up the Critter from the headquarters area, as well as where that fancy new plant was built with our tax dollars.

–chuck

By: Robert Farago

Robert Farago — Sun, 31 Aug 2008 15:57:27 +0000

dastanley :

Well exactly.

By: dastanley

dastanley — Sun, 31 Aug 2008 15:40:26 +0000

It would sure be nice if the company is successful and can actually produce E85 from garbage. Unfortunately, “successful” in today’s business environment might only mean turning a profit from Federal subsidies and private investors and lots of pie in the sky promises with no tangible results. I hope E85 can come from garbage, but this might be a big snake oil pitch.