Comments:

Ypsidixit - 2007-10-01 00:57:22
Now, there may well be some small MI solar power company that's escaped my radar...but there's no MI solar power company in the NASDAQ stock exchange. Bankrupt MI is in a good position as far as offering dirt-cheap opportunities, maybe big tax incentives, to solar start-ups here. I hope to see that happen.
-------------------------------
Sam Abuelsamid - 2007-10-01 10:00:48
I don't want to defend corn ethanol as it's produced today since without substantial subsidies to the likes of ADM, Monsanto and other agri-businesses, it's really not economically viable. The corrosion problem comes from the fact that ethanol absorbs water from the atmosphere. It's actually the water that causes the corrosion. Cars and trucks that are set up for running on ethanol are equipped with stainless steel components in the fuel system. Most existing pipelines aren't set up for it. Going forward, cellulosic ethanol should be a much more useful fuel. The potential yields from cellulose will be orders of magnitude greater than what we get from corn. Also pretty much any kind of biomass can be used instead of using food crops. A lot of progress is being made on cellulose and the first commercial scale plants are being built in the next year or so.
-------------------------------
Ypsidixit - 2007-10-01 10:10:58
That's a good point. I was indeed thinking about corn ethanol only, and how inefficient it is, but of course there are other sorts.

That is very interesting about the stainless steel pipes in ethanol vehicles. Makes me wonder what's happening in regular cars whose owners are, without realizing it, putting in a corrosive liquid...

Hm, there appears to be 6 current/future ethanol plants in Michigan, (map, PDF), the nearest one being in Blissfield (I didn't realize there was one there...)
-------------------------------

add your comment:

your name:

back to the entry - Diaryland