OTHER ENERGY
Why can't we grow sugar cane in the lower half of the U.S.? Instead of tobacco farms, we could have sugar farms and create sugar based ethanol on the scale of Brazil. With genetic engineering, we could also improve the adaptability of sugar cane to wider regions of our own country. And if sugar content is what determines how high the energy content of ethanol, doesn't sugar beets have a high sugar content?
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Permalink Reply by CHRIS SVEUM on -
I've been an long-haul truck driver for18 years. I quit smoking 12 years ago. At that time, I was smoking 2 to 3 packs a day. Up to that point, I'd been smoking for about 17 years. My lungs are still paying for it, though, with ocassional bouts of asthma.
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Permalink Reply by SJC on -
They used to grow cane in Florida. There is really no reason that they could not grow it in the gulf states. It takes a lot of land and water, but so does corn. Cane is almost 4 times more energy efficient for ethanol than corn and if you take the crushed cane stalks and gasify them you can make any kind of biofuel that you want. So you would get an energy out to energy in return of more than 8 to 1 versus 1.2 to 1 for corn and 2 to 1 for sugar beets.
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Permalink Reply by CHRIS SVEUM on
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If I had the money to invest, I'd be buying up or leasing gulf state land, actually, leasing would probably be better. With a lease, I'd want existing farmers to start producing cane crops, specific to ethanol. The question is whether we can produce on a scale large enough to meet demand. Hydrogen would be a good way to go but the most efficient way that I've heard of is from a professor at Purdue University who was on NPR a couple of months ago. My concern now, is the price to heat my home this year. I use LP and live in west central Wisconsin. I'd love to be totally off the grid in EVERY way.
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