Quote:
Originally posted by turbo6bar
Brazil uses sugar beet, which is a lot more efficient than corn. Thanks to the corn lobbyists, though, corn is all we've got. PP OT denizen red-beard has already presented calculations showing that biodiesel from corn would require every single acre of land in the US to make any meaningful dent in gasoline demand.
I believe hemp and sugar beet are both better suited for producing bio-fuels, but since when has the nation's policies been governed by common sense.
|
I was talking Ethanol from Corn, but you are correct. If we used every bit of land in the US that would support corn and used it for ethanol, we would cut 50% of our gasoline use, but not diesel, fuel oil, natural, coal, etc. Maybe it would add up to 5-8% of our energy need, and then we would have to import all of our food. And I do mean all!
The only viable alternative to "fossil" fuels is nuclear fission. The only way the hydrogen economy can work is with nuclear power to produce the hydrogen from water.