Corn to diesel?

[Shallow Runner]

Ok, I'm still all hopped up on Mountain Dew from the oilfield trash post we had going.

So, here we go. Ask the majority of America what they think about ethanol. (Oh it's a great idea turning corn into fuel, I want to do good for our environment.) Now don't get me wrong I am a conservationist at heart. I definitely think we should try to leave as much as we can behind for the future. What I am sick of is hearing uneducated people say we're raping the earth because they heard it on CNN or Fox News.

So here's my tree hugger question of the day.

How many gallons of Diesel, or gas, coal, etc. does it take to make a gallon of ethanol? Well you have to condition the soil,(with a tractor) plant the seeds, (tractor) fertilize,(tractor or plane) and than harvest.

Now harvest season is fun. Q - How do you think it's harvested? A - Bingo tractor. Q - How do you think it's shipped? A - eighteen wheeler. Now I'm assuming we all know tractors planes and big rigs don't run on air.

Wonder where they ship that stuff to be processed? Wonder what that equipment is powered by? After its processed, how does it get to the fuel plant to be mixed with gas? Oh boy, after its at the fuel plant, how does it get to the gas station?

Now, don't get me wrong, I appreciate the business. Lord knows "going green" has made us oilfield trash a lot of $$. But not nearly as much as the politicians that have folks believing in this stuff have made. No, I'd say its about the same ratio as corn to diesel.

I say save the corn for making whiskey and let us oilfield trash worry about fueling you're favorite politicians jet, that he rides on to make these ridiculous speeches (you don't even want to know how many gallons they burn an hour) to us oilfield trash!!

["D"]

Here Here!!!

[PawPaw Gene]

I'll drink to that.
"gene"

[prefers shiners]

I'll drink to that.
"gene"

yeah, but you will drink to anything......

[Tracker123]

As well. I agree. Oh man, how I can talk about this particular subject. Hope someone doesn't differ to get me started. Otherwise crappypappy will be moving this over to the WOT .

[Tbone]

And now they want to increase the ethanol content even higher even though every unbiased expert is telling them that it will damage outboard motors and other engines. Maybe we should move away from ethanol and look more into synthetic fuel produced from coal and other products. The Germans did that in World War II, and Texas A&M has the captured papers on how they did it in its archives.

[PawPaw Gene]

You're right Bruce, as long as it's good ol' corn liquor. What a waste of corn to turn it into alcohol and then burn it.
"gene"

[Tracker123]

And now they want to increase the ethanol content even higher even though every unbiased expert is telling them that it will damage outboard motors and other engines. Maybe we should move away from ethanol and look more into synthetic fuel produced from coal and other products. The Germans did that in World War II, and Texas A&M has the captured papers on how they did it in its archives.

You're right, it may be 15% before long. Interesting you mention that about synthetic fuel. With all the natural gas being produced with nowhere to put it, some are working on this very idea. I have worked on a couple of projects of utilizing natural gas products for synthetic fuel, and it will work although very complicated. CNG (compressed natural gas) needs utilization as well. Many Louisiana communities are moving in this direction. There will also be plant built in Cameron for CNG exports. Currently, just here in Louisiana, we have 150+ years in reserves - and we only just started working on this 2 1/2 years ago.

Vacation trips with air force one costing $100 million, I can't....................sorry.

[Tbone]

Randy, when I was at TAMU back during the Arab oil embargoes, there was quite a buzz in the media about using the German papers to come up with a fuel alternative. One of our History professors was involved in translating the papers as I recall.

[Fish on Line]

The Farmers have also taken a huge hit on the cost of any feed that has corn involved in it. Chicken feed the largest user, Even Dog food has corn in it. you could buy Coal Oil or Kerosene 60 years ago for lamps. My Grandmother bought Coal oil because it didn't soot up when burned. I havn't seen a drop of Coal Oil in 50 years. Its all about stuffing money in the pockets of those that controll everything going green