Re: $1 / gallon of ethonal plant in US for 2009!
Quote:
Originally Posted by drguitarum2005
why dont they use the damn Kudzu that covers 800 million acres of the South? It's basically useless and is IMPOSSIBLE to kill...
At some point, I'm sure we will. The difficulty is in the conversion of cellulose to glucose/xylose.
Glucose/xylose can be fermented quite easily into ethanol, after all, that's how we get our beers and wines. It can even be fermented into lactic acid which can, in turn, be polymerized and made into polylactic acid (PLA) which is the most basic form of bioplastics.
Anyhoo, the conversion of cellulose to glucose/xylose does take place when in contact with certain enzymes. These enzymes are found in the stomachs of cows and the digestive systems of termites (other creatures have similar enzymes too). The problem is obtaining enough of these enzymes to make a full scale plant. Not only is the problem in making enough, but making enough affordable.
My senior design project at Montana State was to, with a team, design a full scale polylactic acid plant from scratch. It took two semesters to complete, but when we were done, it gave some pretty cool insights into where the future can take us. The largest problem that we tackled was the amount and cost of enzymes available when we started (late 2006). We addressed the issue by making a simple assumption that they were affordable and plentiful. When that IS the case, then the project was a huge success.
So, to bring this back to your initial question, we can't use them yet until a process of converting cellulose into fermentable sugars is made cheap and easy.
Re: $1 / gallon of ethonal plant in US for 2009!
the technology is there to pull glucose from hemp. just a hard cycle
Re: $1 / gallon of ethonal plant in US for 2009!
Quote:
Originally Posted by neliconcept
the technology is there to pull glucose from hemp. just a hard cycle
The technology is there to send people to the moon, but why isn't there a line across the country?
The cost. It plays a MASSIVE factor in the feasibility of things. It simply costs too much money to make a large scale plant that "pulls" glucose from hemp.
Cellulose from hemp is no different than cellulose from grass or trees.
What exactly do you mean "just a hard cycle?" No intent to be condescending by any means, just trying to understand what you are saying. There is no cycle so-to-speak, there is a process however.
