Originally Posted by Cubdriver
(Post 1141819)
What I mean is if you have been reading these alternative fuel news clips for years like some here have been ;) , definite patterns emerge and the details become more of distraction than anything else. Some news clip about so and so airline is trying a 10% blend of biofuel to see if it works or not is like saying there is a new tree in the forest this week, while skipping over the state of the total forest. There have been a ton of these clips in the last two years and some trends I see are
• Biofuel feedstocks which compete with food production are not a good idea (corn ethanol for example) • Carbon credits (think Europe) are the prime driver of aviation biofuel or alternative fuel adoption worldwide • All forms of biofuels and synthetics are currently not viable for serious consumption due to high cost per unit. • Industry is gradually tooling up to produce economical alternative fuels (biofuel, synthetics) but the industry as a whole is in its infancy • Air Force and Navy are on the forefront of consumption/R&D for biofuels for military purposes • USDA (I think) is dumping money into it • The best feedstocks are jatropha, algae, and switchgrass • It is possible to manufacture enough biofuel or synthetics to completely replace fossil fuels with enough land, even in the US. • Earliest serious use of biofuels, ie. more than 50% blends with fossil fuels, is years off. Think 2020. • Complete switch to biofuel is decades off but likely. Think 2050. • Surface vehicles may prefer to go with electricity rather than biofuels, especially if a breakthrough battery ever happens. These are just the first few thoughts I had. It is a great subject. |
I hope we can supplement and break away from an utter reliance on fossil fuels, particularly from the Mid East.
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