Originally posted by Beachcoma[/I] I don't think this technology is meant to supply fuel to fuel guzzlers. The Japanese are pretty good in
hybrid vehicles and other low fuel consumption vehicles. I don't know the numbers, but I think it would[/I] be cost-effective if the operation is
decentralized. The scientists are improving efficiency to make it commercial. Perhaps they can make the generator small enough to produce the fuel
needs of a small farming community. I've seen a German invention that converts the farm wastes into small dry pellets that can be either disposed of
easily or fed back into the machine to be burned and produce electricity. Pretty cool stuff.
I have no idea how many cows there are in America. The rough rule of thumb I calculated is “A half million cows equals 30 thousand barrels of
fuel.” I was using 42 gal to the bbl. Any help is to be appreciated. Yes, I can imagine how in states like Wyoming or the Dakota’s, small
communities could be fueled by cow dung. Maybe the school kids could collect it during the summer vacation? I’m skeptical of all this vegetables to
fuel hype. Like grow our way out of addiction.
The cost to prepare land for planting, the cost of planting and plowing, the cost of harvesting, storing, transporting, and so one, including the cost
of fertilizer and etc., makes renewable energy more a political ploy than a real life plan. The only thing we can hope for is to greatly improve gas
mileage - like to make 50 mpg the MINIMUM allowed, and to convert to electric cars for places like Manhattan, re-charged by coal fired steam
generating plants. We can, we must, clean up the discharge from those plants.