Posted by Krzysztof Lis on December 16, 2011
Below you will find a table representing 199+ proof (99,5%+) alcohol yield from various feedstocks. The values are both in US gallons per ton (2,000 lbs) or litres per metric tonne of feedstock. The numbers were obtained from calculation of the amount of fermentable substances contained in the feedstocks. As you can imagine, real values will be noticeably lower.
It doesn’t surprise that the best feedstock for ethanol production is the wheat, along with other grains, like corn and buckwheat. Raisins and prunes work great as they’re dried, and thus contain a lot of sugar per unit mass. WAIT! There is more to read… read on »
Posted by Krzysztof Lis on November 18, 2011
In the vast amount of information about alternate energy, there a lot of sources of alternate energy that are really not as effective as they are promising to be. Some of these energy sources are much hyped and marketed because the interest in alternate energy is conducive for investor interest in the process. The hype can be a quick source of earning money for alternate energy fraudsters.
Therefore, although it is safe to invest money in established alternate energy solutions, especially solar panels, because the government is spending billions to foster their development, one should be careful before spending money and thought on miraculous alternate energy solutions like ethanol. A common notion that has been slowly gaining ground is that biofuels like ethanol can offer a long term solution to America’s fuel crisis and provide substantial returns to investors. This notion, although technically true, yet has several real life obstacles facing it before it turns into a successful alternative to gasoline. WAIT! There is more to read… read on »
Posted by Krzysztof Lis on November 11, 2011
A lot of people say that biodiesel is the future biofuel. You can pay to learn how to make biodiesel (or read it for free here) and buy an expensive biodiesel processor (or make your own for small fraction of the price). But is biodiesel really a good alternative to petrodiesel?
I believe not. I think that it’s better to use straight or waste vegetable oil, and not biodiesel. WAIT! There is more to read… read on »
Posted by Krzysztof Lis on October 3, 2010
In many articles on this blog I used the term efficiency. It describes the ratio between the output power from any device (like an internal combustion engine) and the input to that device. For example, in internal combustion engine the output is the power transmitted via the shaft to the gearbox, while the input is the amount of energy stored in fuel, the heating value of the fuel. If we’re discussing electric engines, the output is the same, while the input is the amount of electrical power used by the engine while it is working.
When it comes to producing biofuels, or any fuels in general (even the ones derived from the petroleum), you use a similar factor, called EROEI. It is an abbreviation of Energy Return On Energy Invested. For a specific fuel it shows how much energy you obtain from this fuel when compared to the energy used to producing it. WAIT! There is more to read… read on »
