Author: OzOz
Date: Jul 13, 2006 00:39
>Unfortunately not. Most studies show the EROEI for ethanol to
>hover around 1. Perhaps a little positive, perhaps a little negative.
>Ethanol is never going to amount to much, and it certainly will
>never come close to replacing oil as it now stands in our
>economy. Oil has an EROEI of between 10-100:1.
This is correct. However much energy is lost going from starch->ethanol.
Vegetable oils, however, are pretty well diesel-ready as crushed.
I posted (with zero comment, which is surprising) an analysis that
confirms a low return on energy invested for bioethanol (10-15%) vs a
very large return on oilseed rape oil (about 200%). Both still have
significant high-value feed residues for other uses.
>Cellulistic ethanol is another loser, as the 'waste' is normally
>plant remains that would be used or plowed back into the field.
>This essentially amounts to strip-mining the soil for a short
>term gain. All that biomass taken would have to be replaced in
>the form of lots of fertilizers.
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