Cellulosic ethanol can contain up to 16 times more energy than is required to create it! If that doesn’t sound ridiculously impressive, consider that gasoline contains only 5 times more energy than was required to create it and corn ethanol is totally lame, containing only 1.3 times the energy required to create it.
It’s a shame to harvest all that corn and turn it in to fuel when you could harvest the corn for food like God intended, and use the waste (the stalks) for fuel instead. Not to mention grass clippings et al.
The only problem at the moment is that the process is expensive. I’m sure the price will come down as the pilot plant discovers ways to economize and streamline the process.
Via the Professor.
I’m hoping that ethanol makes the price of corn go up just enough that real sugar is less expensive than high fructose corn syrup. That wouldn’t be all bad.