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Looking To The Future: The Potential Of Second-Generation Biofuels
By Mr Ethanol | November 14, 2007
CattleNetwork.com:
Many uncertainties remain for the future of biofuels, including competition from unconventional fossil fuel alternatives and concerns about environmental tradeoffs. Perhaps the biggest uncertainty is the extent to which the land intensity of current biofuel production can be reduced. The amount of biofuel that can be produced from an acre of land varies from 100 gallons per acre for EU rapeseed to 400 gallons per acre for U.S. corn and 660 gallons per acre for Brazilian sugarcane.
Cellulosic ethanol could raise per acre ethanol yields to more than 1,000 gallons, significantly reducing land requirements. Cellulosic ethanol is made by breaking down the tough cellular material that gives plants rigidity and structure and converting the resulting sugar into ethanol. Cellulose is the world’s most widely available biological material, present in such low-value materials as wood chips and wood waste, fast-growing grasses, crop residues like corn stover, and municipal waste.
U.S. cellulosic fuel production costs are now estimated at more than $2.50 per gallon, compared with $1.65 per gallon for corn ethanol. Venture capital and government subsidies are supporting companies interested in making cellulosic ethanol commercially viable, primarily in the United States, but also in several other countries, including Canada, Brazil, China, Japan, and Spain.
In the meantime, other costs of cellulosic ethanol production need to be fully assessed, such as the impacts of harvesting grasses, trees, and crop residues on the erodibility and fertility of land resources. There are also questions regarding the upstream logistical and environmental costs of harvesting, transporting, and storing large volumes of bulky feedstock used in processing.
Topics: Biofuel, News, Trends |
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