Biodiesel from engineered sugarcane more economical than from soybean

[wxman]

http://www.alphagalileo.org/ViewItem.aspx?ItemId=162275&CultureCode=en

...The analysis showed that oil cane with 20 percent oil in the stem, grown on under-utilized acres in the southeastern United States, could replace more than two-thirds of the country’s use of diesel and jet fuel. This represents a much greater proportion than could be supplied by soybean, even if the entire crop went to biodiesel production. Furthermore, oil cane could achieve this level of productivity on a fraction of the land area that would be needed for crops like soybean and canola, and it could do so on land considered unusable for food crop production....

 

[Powder Hound]

This is an interesting article. I hope it doesn't go off into oblivion like most articles like this do.

Cheers,

PH

 

[Lug_Nut]

cost decreases to $3.30 per gallon for 2 percent oil cane and to $2.20 per gallon for 20 percent oil cane.

Extrapolating a straight line ratio, (maybe not a valid presumption, but....) 10x the oil yield saves $1.10 / gallon, so 6x the yield, the current 12% best case cane, will save $0.66 / gallon off the $3.30 per?

It's still first use, though. Yeah it's marginal land for our use, but that marginal land does grow other things. Unless there is a way to make fuel from Kudzu there's still advantages to using local post consumer waste for the oil supply.

 

[MichaelB]

It's still first use, though. Yeah it's marginal land for our use, but that marginal land does grow other things. Unless there is a way to make fuel from Kudzu there's still advantages to using local post consumer waste for the oil supply.

Man you got that right! Kudzu the invasive scourge of the south. It makes Asian Carp look like pussies. Maybe your on to something, it has bio mass that maybe could be converted to fuel. The economics are a totally different story. Even cows won't eat it.

 

[gotsoot]

But,Goats give it hell.!

 

[Buckwild90]

Industrial hemp would smoke sugar cane. As soon as the dumbass laws in this country are changed we will have an abundance of cheap renewable biofuel.