Joe asked: Lets say that its 20 years later (or whatever) and cars in the US are fueled by
E85. Would we be better off, cost-wise, then we were buying gas? That is to say, could the US
farming industry support a large demand of
E85, and keep the prices low (and by low, I mean under $2).
Same question for Hydrogen: could it be produced with such volume to keep the prices low enough?
I guess the overall question is, are these
alternative fuels capable of being more financially feasible then gas is to us now?
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Tags:
Alternative Fuels,
E85,
Farming Industry
Hydrogen is extremely abundant, but it is hard and it takes money to extract it from its bond with oxygen. However, in 20 years or so, it is quite possible that an efficient hydrogen-extractor machine will be invented. Corn is abundant–we don’t have to worry about that.
E85 … maybe, hydrogen maybe. The real sustainable alternate fuel appears to bio-diesel. I just saw something in I believe it was Newsweek that they now have a way to turn not only corn, but cornstalks and just about any left over plant tissue into bio-diesel.
Out in the midwest it may appear that there are tons of corn etc. However, with the current efficiency of converting ethanol to gas, it would take every square inch of land in the US to support our driving habbit. Currently, we only use the sugary part of the plant to make ethanol. Process is similar to making alcohol. However, research is being done to convert the fiber part of the plant also. If that works, we may be able to self support ourselves.
Hydrogen is another story. Creating hydrogen takes electricity. If we have tons of electricity, then we can have as much hydrogen as we want. Question is where we are going to get the electricity. Nuclear or solar, wind or good old oil. Hopefully not dirty coal.