New concept for US liquid fuel independence

Discussion in 'Chemistry' started by Billy T, May 6, 2007.

  1. Billy T Use Sugar Cane Alcohol car Fuel Valued Senior Member

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    23,198
    Paper in Proceeding Nat Accd. of Sciences, March 2007

    "To overcome the environmental challenges associated with coal
    and the land limitations with the bioenergy crop, we suggest an
    alternative pathway where neither coal nor biomass is treated as
    a sole source of energy to produce liquid hydrocarbon fuel. In
    our proposal, the primary purpose of either coal or biomass is to
    provide carbon atoms needed for the production of liquid
    hydrocarbons. Thus, the goal is to accomplish the complete
    transformation of every carbon atom contained in either of the
    feed stocks to liquid fuel by supplementing the conversion
    process with a carbon-free energy source. We propose to generate
    H2 from a carbon-free primary energy source such as solar,
    nuclear, wind, etc. and then use it to supply the hydrogen atoms
    needed for the chemical transformation."

    "It should be emphasized that the proposed ‘‘sun to wheels’’
    solution is successful in providing a viable sustainable route to meet
    the hydrocarbon fuel need for the total United States transportation
    sector."

    Full article at:
    http://www.purdue.edu/dp/energy/pdf/Agrawal-PNAS-Mar2007.pdf

    A hard read - lots of chemistry - but worth it.
     
    Last edited by a moderator: May 6, 2007
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  3. leopold Valued Senior Member

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  5. Billy T Use Sugar Cane Alcohol car Fuel Valued Senior Member

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    Not sure, but think the H2CAR process is both much more advanced in concept (has full thermodynamic analysis etc.) and also the advantage of using all the carbon atoms - no need to sequester any in the Earth (which has some potentially serious risks as discussed in the link I gave to H2CAR suggestion.)
     
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  7. leopold Valued Senior Member

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    maybe if what you propose and the coal plants can pool their talents they can come up with a solution.
     
  8. Billy T Use Sugar Cane Alcohol car Fuel Valued Senior Member

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    Not my proposal, but think it is an exciting new idea. I have considerable investments in the alcohol, vehicle, genetics of celulose alcohol, etc liquid fuel / transportation area so I try to keep up with related developments and just found this - out now only about 2 weeks.
     
  9. MetaKron Registered Senior Member

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    Which probably explains your willful obtuseness when the subject of hempseed oil comes up. Brazil would do a lot better using hempseed oil.
     
  10. Mosheh Thezion Registered Senior Member

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    unless we are removing the co2 from the air to feed this industry, then it wont matter....
     
  11. MetaKron Registered Senior Member

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    The easiest way to remove CO2 from the air is to grow plants that gain mass rapidly. Bamboo is an example of a fast-growing plant but it doesn't reach the mass or produce the oil the hemp does.
     

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