What is Digg?27 Comments
- pegothejerk, on 06/23/2009, -0/+12Please please please someone stop focusing on corn and focus on using hemp plant materials in the same manner. It isn't food, would do well with crop rotation, has so many other uses, and grows like a weed. Corn is getting us into more trouble than it's worth right now.
- TAGline, on 06/23/2009, -1/+11Not entirely true. Oil from the ground adds carbon to the carbon cycle because it already exists in deposits. Biofuels require carbon to grow, and thus end up carbon neutral in theory (they can only give us as much carbon as they absorb during growth).
- askantik, on 06/23/2009, -0/+7True, but the point of this is that it uses waste at least. That way we can eat the corn and then make fuel from the waste (in theory). But yes, hemp x 1000 would be awesome.
- bringitontimx, on 06/23/2009, -0/+5gah. scientific innovation. who needs it?
- MAGZine, on 06/23/2009, -0/+4And to expand on Rothen - not only is it ++ on the carbon front, but people don't realize the tons and tons of nitrogen we dump into the environment with fertilizers. Yes, Nitrogen makes plants grow, but consider the OTHER effects of such a volume going into the environment. It's just not logical, no matter how much of the waste we can 'make use of''.
- UselessTrivia, on 06/23/2009, -0/+4Dugg for accuracy.
It doesn't end up being quite perfect in practice because of course we don't use 100% biofuels with no additives. All corn ethanol is mixed with at least 15% gasoline to "de-nature" it. The reason for this is because if you sell 100% corn ethanol with nothing else in it, you're actually just selling everclear and you'd technically need a liqour license. There'd be nothing to stop some bum from buying a gallon of pure moonshine for $1.89 and drinking it. Adding in real gasoline makes it non-consumable.
They also add some detergents and such to keep fuel injectors clean.
But in general you're right, the theory is that they're carbon neutral. The downside of course is that there is nowhere near enough farm land to both feed the entire world as well as fuel the entire vehicle fleet.
Best bet is to just use electricity for personal transports and biodiesel for jets and heavy trucks. - Gemfinder, on 06/23/2009, -0/+3Electric cars are great, but you can't always access a plug. For example, apartment carports. If your apt. manager/owner refuses to put in outlets, you're SOL.
- mattrudolph, on 06/23/2009, -0/+3Why on earth should we focus on hemp? I'm so sick of hearing people prate on and on about the virtues of this plant. Sure, there are some uses for it, but it is certainly not some kind of miracle weed that can be applied to any situation.
If we are simply attempting to produce biomass for cellulosic ethanol, there are other plants that produce a great deal more biomass than hemp. One example of this is giant miscanthus, which is a type of tall grass that is capable of producing far more biomass per acre. - sulthernao, on 06/23/2009, -1/+4We need an electric car, not biofuels.
- FlaNative, on 06/23/2009, -0/+2We can make cheap methanol from natural gas, if we wanted to.
An all American energy source, about a dollar a gallon.
1/2 the mileage of gasoline, but cheaper than the price of gas.
And our energy dollars would not be funding terrorist sponsors. - acegi, on 06/23/2009, -2/+4I'd rather see improved battery/solar panel tech...
car that runs on ***** sunlight. think about that. - guffly, on 06/24/2009, -0/+1whoops sorry wrong post...
but yeah personally, i think we need to try a different source of power othet than gases like electric - stangaddict08, on 06/25/2009, -0/+1While I agree with Gemfinder, in that as of now we aren't ready to go complete electric, I think starting the implementation of pure electric should begin. Tesla has made great leaps in this field, even including a normal outlet that you can plug in on the go. But there are still many hurdles to clear before everyone has 100% electric cars.
On a different note, the Tesla looks freaking sweet. Reading a review a long time ago, likened it to being shot out of a railgun. - Gemfinder, on 06/23/2009, -0/+1So to go the same distance on methanol, you'd have to have a fuel tank twice as large as currently in circulation.
…………………
That would collapse urban sprawl since the range on peoples' cars would commensurately shrink with the reduced mileage, but if gasoline and bioethanol dip down towards the $2/gallon mark, you really don't get good value.
It's not all about the price. - RothenbergXXX, on 06/23/2009, -0/+1Way to go for missing the point entirely.
- RothenbergXXX, on 06/23/2009, -0/+1That's a really good point. I have read my argument somewhere else though, so do think there's something to it.
If you think about it, we're already above a safe level of carbon in the atmosphere, so we'd need to do a number of things to remain sustainable which together aren't necessarily possible. First it'd be necessary to create enough living plant life on the planet to soak up the carbon we've already released (by burning fossil fuels that were previously stored away), as well make up for the huge percentage of Earth's plant life we've already destroyed. In addition to that we'd need to be growing a separate supply of produce, enough to power the world's industry.
While I can't say this for sure, I don't believe that model's currently possible for global agriculture. Now I'm interested, gotta to do some more research on the subject. - guffly, on 06/24/2009, -0/+1http://blog.guffly.com/2008/08/decoding-greenwashi ...
a really helpful article on some simple tips to help people decode whats really eco-friendly from the washed - Enterres, on 06/23/2009, -0/+1I challenge you to come up with any sort of hypothetical situation in which hemp, or a hemp product couldn't be applied as a solution.
You can literally make anything from it, including a concrete like substance that can even float. - WatIsNotTaknYet, on 06/23/2009, -0/+0Woah dude. You are like....totally out there maaaan.
You should..you should write a book or...or something dude.
Hey is anyone else hungry right now? - tgc1, on 06/23/2009, -1/+1You're right, let's just keep using fossil fuels.
Dumbass. - WatIsNotTaknYet, on 06/23/2009, -2/+1***** cars man. How about we bring back bicycles? I use bicycles 24/7 and I love it. Not only does it kill off all problems with fatness and heart attacks but it will also eventually turn us into a more ambitious, productive, and energetic society.
- lohphat, on 06/23/2009, -2/+1We must maintain the false corn economy to justify the taxpayer subsidies.
- Ne007, on 06/23/2009, -3/+2great...humans and animals will starve to death because some smuck wants to drive a hummer.
- SovietPig09, on 06/23/2009, -1/+0am i the only one who read 'porn' plant?
- raptorlightning, on 06/23/2009, -2/+1BTW. Molding bread releases TONS of CO2. And I would assume these enzymes do too. This is a pretty big failure imo.
- RothenbergXXX, on 06/22/2009, -5/+3I'm so sick of hearing about biofuels. Shouldn't everyone know that they're a solution to only one of our two serious energy crises? If we find another hydrocarbon to use as fuel, the climate will still be destroyed in 30 years. We should be taking the fact that our oil supply is almost depleted as an excuse to switch to an energy source that doesn't kill us... And why the ***** should we need an excuse anyway?
- inactive, on 06/23/2009, -8/+1I shoved a corn cob up your daddy's butt and he liked it.
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