Originally Posted by Mariss Freimanis  xyzdonna,
Biodiesel or ethanol, it makes no difference. It comes from plants whose first, second or 100th purpose for being does not include generating earth-friendly fuels for people to use. The energy still comes from the sun and it is a feeble source. Less than 0.1% of that gets converted into friendly fuels. Plants have other imperatives; generating oil or sugar is way down on their list of things to do.
Should you discover an absolutely altruistic plant that somehow converted 100% of incident radiation to gasoline and to the exclusion of everything else (like living), you'd still get only 50 gallons of gasoline a year per square meter. Tip-off: Look for an absolutely matte-black plant. It will reflect no light at all.:-)
Mariss
Mariss |
Hi Mariss,
Haven't seen a matte black plant, there might be some in the Amazon rain forest, if they haven't been clear cut by now. I appreciate the analysis you did on ethanol. I'll try and dig up some facts on biodiesel. It will be fun to compare the two.
Donna