Showing posts with label ethanol. Show all posts
Showing posts with label ethanol. Show all posts

Tequila's Agave Plant Ideal to Make Ethanol

Yet another plant is suggested as a savior for our fuel hungry future. Agave is a succulent, normally used to produce the alcoholic drink tequila. Its use to make this drink is no coincidence - agave is rich in sugar. It is ideal for making ethanol.

Australia is looking for a plant that will grow in arid areas. Sugarcane will grow on marginal land but not in semi-desert regions. Agave will grow where it hardly ever rains, so it will not take fertile land away from food growers. A pilot test farm has been established at Ayr in Queensland.

Agave is a winner. It gives back five times more energy than is used to produce it. And it makes less greenhouse gas than the manufacture of sugar cane ethanol.

Corn is widely used at present to make ethanol. The quality, however, is variable. Ethanol from agave is superior. Another benefit is that the woody by-product from the plant can be used in making the motor vehicle fuel.
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Automotive

Kelp Can Be Used to Make Biofuel

Biofuel can just be picked up as you go for a walk. Yes, and there's plenty of it. It's plain old kelp, particularly the Laminaria digitata type which grows along the coast of Wales. The plant's carbohydrate level peaks in July. A high level of carbohydrate is needed to produce more ethanol.

There is so much kelp in the world lying around beaches. It would be rational to use this resource because little of it is used for human consumption. The plant is very dense in its growth. Much more biomass per square meter is produced than with sugar cane or other ethanol crops.

Using prime agricultural land to grow crops to produced ethanol directly affects the supply and price of food. The oceans have almost limitless resources waiting to be utilized.
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Science