|
southern MN | Grows everywhere????? Huh? Not here - I guess it could, but not so well.
You do realize, corn _is_ a grass...... Makes your middle statement seem kinda silly.......
Nobel prize winners actually don't have such a god reputation of practical working stuff - they are good dreamers, but sometimes the facts elude them. Like - corn being a grass???? ;)
So, his pie in the sky dreaming on this topic is just as you say at the end - fraught with a lot of loopholes and things not thought out.
Cellulostic ethanol depends on harvesting, transporting, storing, processing, and disposing of a _huge_ volume of plant material. The output per ton is very low on cellulostic ethanol. Lots and lots of tonnage...... Can we do so afforably? Will we need to dry it to store it? Cover it to store it? How much does that cost/ add to the green footprint?
Switchgrass doesn't use a lot of fertilizer because it isn't harvested much. It decomposes and repeats itself. Once you harvest it, heavily, then you need to replace the P & K that you remove. Unlike corn, where most of the stalk remains - you're going to take away most all of the plant.
So far, they don't have the enzymes to actually make this whole process work. We need to get better bugs to make the process an energy-positive one. They get closer, but not really there yet.
Me, I share the dream of cellulostic working out someday. Corncobs or corn stover might end up an easier & more familiar product to use - cobs will handle/ store/ transport much easier, corn stover grows everywhere.
Switchgrass is just another option - I don't see it as having the fast track at this time. I understand it works more effeicently in southern states, where corn doesn't grow quite as well - so it has potential in some regions.
I hope it works out, I'm all for it.
But - I'm gonna want to see it work, I'm not going to turn my back on other ideas, including the current corn ethanol, while waiting for this one option to work out. Or not.
I'm hopeful, I want it to work, I'm all for it. But I don't believe we are there yet, and there are roadblocks in the way that could prevent us from ever getting there....
--->Paul
| |
|
The Future of Switchgrass as a Cellulosic Ethanol Feedstock
