That's great news!

Congratulations Americans... the doorway to an existence free of relying upon oil is now open. Along with compressed air, electric and algae biodiesel vehicles.

But as most are aware that is only the begining. IMO the American people need to control their future. Now that all of these technologies exist, we must make sure they get adopted as quickly as possible. We can't rely upon politicians and big business to do what is right. It's all on us.

It's good to know that "second generation" biofuels are nearly ready for consumption. If you're interested in learning more about cellulosic ethanol and other biofuels from advanced feedstocks, like algae and switchgrass, you should attend the Renewable Energy Finance Forum-Wall Street (www.REFFWallStreet.com), held June 18-19 in New York City. One of the official event sessions will feature Daniel More, from Morgan Stanley, discussing the future of biofuels, including both first generation fuels, like corn ethanol, as well as second generation fuels, like cellulosic ethanol. Other event sessions will feature more than 40 speakers from companies including BP Alternative Energy, GE, JPMorgan, Credit Suisse, and many others, discussing topics such as solar power, wind energy, carbon finance, and more.

So what are the greenhouse gas implications of such a plant? Water usage?

I like the idea of taking waste/non-food products and turning them into fuel. I just wonder how much better than corn it really is. Obviously it won't hurt food prices, but if it ultimately requires more CO2 to be released or a lot more water than corn ethanol, do we really win?

For the record, I have no idea and am just throwing out questions. I really hope we can find answers to these problems and find a truly 'green' alternative fuel combined with reducing our obsession on the happy-motoring-suburban-sprawl-latte-sipping society we have built up.

Wait, so they've got cellulosic ethanol worked out? Or is this like a prototype refinery?

to answer some questions here it does, in the process, produce CO2 at levels that do affect concentrations of gas in the atmosphere. the enzymatic pathway these types of plants describe will never fully take into affect at wide spread production.

what really sucks is that this fuel can not be transported via piplines beacuse ethnol is soluable in water. you have to ship it via train, and there is not enough tank cars in the country that could transport the fuel needed for national usage.

though good ideas... ethnol will be very difficult to make it as the silver bullet for the "energy problem"...

using enzymes, i feel, in this way will never be the most economical way to produce cellulostic ethanol

"Wait, so they've got cellulosic ethanol worked out? Or is this like a prototype refinery?"

I imagine you mean that it costs less to make it than it sells for?

Or less energy into it than out of it?

The company has changed named 2 times and first talked of this plant back in 1999. I have a healthy bit of skepticism that this might be an investment scam.

its good that this has come out but in reality i really doubt that american govt will ever let this happen they need gas to be rich

I have a mercedes suv and before the gas price shot up I never even realized I was getting only 15 miles to the gallon (avg) and that is correct it would cost me more to trade it in or re sell. so my only choice is a conversion kit. HHO has anyone tried this on thier vehicle???

This Cellulosic plant opened January this year.
http://www.klprocess.com/Press%20Releases/kryzanowskiarticle.html

Is there a reference for determining what creates more carbon manufacturing and burning oil or biomass ethanol?

Is there a reference for determining what creates more carbon manufacturing and burning oil or biomass ethanol?

>> Ethanol made from cellulose, as opposed to ethanol made form corn, is what is a second generation biofuel.

Sorry to nitpick, but the second half of this sentence is pretty poor grammar, and form !=from. Too excited to proofread?

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MGR: Thanks, it's fixed now. That's what happens when you do last minute changes *after* you proofread.

Unfortunately, processes like Verenium's have too much in common with traditional corn-based ethanol production. They are resource-intensive for several reasons.... 1) the enzymatic pretreatment needed to separate the sugars are costly and make use of some rather nasty chemicals.... 2) optimal conditions must be maintained for fermentation (heat, pressure, etc).... 3) after fermentation, energy is required for distillation.... 4) significant amounts of fresh water are used in the process.

While the price target of $2 per gallon is competitive with corn-based ethanol and gasoline, it does not compete well with the price target of less than $1 per gallon being suggested by next-generation companies such as Coskata and Fulcrum BioFuels. These companies make use of plasma gasification technology which bypasses the costly pretreatment steps and significantly increases the variety of usable feedstock....organic waste, trash, even old tires.

Fulcrum BioFuels is looking at a commercial-scale production facility opening in 2010, while Coskata is close behind with plans to begin full-scale production in 2011. Once plasma gasification processes reach commercial-scale production, I have to believe that the enzymatic processes are ultimately going to fall by the wayside. They simply don't compete on a cost basis.

The ethanol is the fuel which substitute de gasoline at G8 country.... the gasoline will be usu only by no develoment country

Ok, I have an inkling (pun not intended) to modify that book image to the right to say "Schneier on Squid."

"The closest the squid industry has to a rock star."