Comments on: World's First Commercially Viable Cellulosic Ethanol Plant Online 2009

By: Gerard Vaughan

Gerard Vaughan — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 17:35:12 +0000

Some people seem rightly concerned as to where the energy comes from to drive the process. Well, I assume that it is as with the refinement of crude oil. It uses-up some of the product. You cannot expect a comlicated conversion process not to use a little. The question is, “roughly how much”. One can only assume that this is reflected in the price of the product.

I did email a “bio-diesel” company to ask if they powered their agricultural machinery on their product, but received no memorable reply. It certainly does make you wonder !

Regarding “Wind-energy” (My subject), you may be interested to know that the “Economy” of a wind-farm – i.e. how long it takes to supply the energy required to make another – is a necklace-shaped function of the (logarithm of) physical size – diameter – of the “TAD”s of which it is comprised.

(Logarithm – i.e. make each horizontal division on the “size” axis represent TIMES 2 (say) as opposed to PLUS two(say))

The shortest time ocurrs for sizes where the T(urbine) costs about the same as the A(lternator). This happens at around 1m diameter for a very effective design !

By: Gerard Vaughan

Gerard Vaughan — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 17:35:00 +0000

I did email a “bio-diesel” company to ask if they powered their agricultural machinery on their product, but received no memorable reply. It certainly does make you wonder !

(Logarithm – i.e. make each horizontal division on the “size” axis represent TIMES 2 (say) as opposed to PLUS two(say))

The shortest time ocurrs for sizes where the T(urbine) costs about the same as the A(lternator). This happens at around 1m diameter for a very effective design !

By: larryhagedon

larryhagedon — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 02:26:11 +0000

Good post Clayton.

Indeed lots of companies are breaking thru the production barriers now to commercialise cellulosic bio-technologies.

I was a bit amused at all the negative comments. They are much more indicative of the commentors lack of understanding of the processes involved than of any problems with those processes.

By: larryhagedon

larryhagedon — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 02:26:00 +0000

Good post Clayton.

Indeed lots of companies are breaking thru the production barriers now to commercialise cellulosic bio-technologies.

I was a bit amused at all the negative comments. They are much more indicative of the commentors lack of understanding of the processes involved than of any problems with those processes.

By: First Algae Biodiesel Plant Goes Online: April 1, 2008 : Gas 2.0

First Algae Biodiesel Plant Goes Online: April 1, 2008 : Gas 2.0 — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 18:23:39 +0000

[...] World’s First Commercially Viable Cellulosic Ethanol Plant Online 2009 [...]

By: Roger Sacilotto

Roger Sacilotto — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 18:05:44 +0000

A significant source of cellulose is newspapers, much of which ends up in landfills.

By: Roger Sacilotto

Roger Sacilotto — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 18:05:00 +0000

A significant source of cellulose is newspapers, much of which ends up in landfills.

By: The News Blimp » Blog Archive » Crumplin’ jacked trash (in a flash, flash, flash).

Sun, 20 Jul 2008 13:21:59 +0000

[...] In a flash…your trash could become a sought-after commodity for fuel production. [...]

By: Biodiesel Mythbuster 2.0: Twenty-Two Biodiesel Myths Dispelled : Gas 2.0

Biodiesel Mythbuster 2.0: Twenty-Two Biodiesel Myths Dispelled : Gas 2.0 — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 02:02:04 +0000

[...] containing cellulose—aka cellulosic ethanol—a process that is still being developed. The first major commercial cellulosic ethanol facility will go online in 2009. Some studies have shown that cellulosic ethanol has the potential to [...]

By: Mascoma Update: Cellulosic Ethanol Company Adds $10 Million From Marathon Oil : Gas 2.0

Wed, 07 May 2008 23:06:32 +0000

[...] this post? Subscribe to our RSS feed and stay up to date.AutoblogGreen reported today that the cellulosic ethanol company Mascoma has received another $10 million for research and development from Marathon Oil. [...]