| MixAlco: Cows Help Make BioFuels |
| Written by John Barrie | ||
| Friday, 06 April 2007 | ||
At first glance, cows don't seem to be all that technologically advanced. However, they've got a trick up their, er, sleeve, that so far we humans haven't been able to duplicate. Cows can turn cellulose (grasses) into sugars without needing a mutli-million dollar facility. If we had that power, our bio-fuel problems would be over, and corn-based bio-fuel would no longer be needed. Professor Mark Holtzapple of Texas A&M analyzed how a cow’s stomach(s) work to help design a process for making ethanol and many other alcohols from cellulosic materials. The result is the MixAlco process where almost any organic material can be converted to high energy biofuels. This process can be used to convert waste materials to provide almost all of our automotive energy needs. He specifically shows how much waste we make – agricultural, municipal and sewage and how much ethanol can be derived from each of these feedstocks. By
using these waste streams as the fuel feed stock, the MixAlco process can provide
much of our fuel needs without displacing valuable crop lands or using high
energy crops such as corn. Because they have low capital costs and relatively simple operation, the MixAlco pretreatment and fermentation steps may be carried out on-location at sewage treatment plants or municipal landfills. Several studies have shown that MixAlco is capable of economically converting both dairy manure and chipped yard waste into alcohol. We need to push for cellulosic ethanol as an alternative to both gasoline and to corn based ethanol. Just today the price of corn hit a ten year high of $4.31 per bushel, roughly twice what it cost last year. This is creating hunger and economic chaos in Central America where corn is a staple of their diet. Professor Mark Holtzapple,
holder of many patents on the MixAlco process makes a great presentation at Texas
A&M for their distinguished lecture series. Check out Prof. Holtzapple’s presentation here.
Comments
(6)
I always knew it...
written by fgfdg , April 07, 2007
Cows OWN!
Back to the Future
written by Roland St. Jude , April 08, 2007
Fueling automotives with waste? Brilliant! Just like Doc Brown in Back to the Future.
How do we
written by dy , April 10, 2007
light a fire under the rest of the country. I always feel ike I read about these great ideas in the alternative press, and they never come out to the public. . . an idea has to reach a tippping point before it can take off. . . how do we get enough people fired up about these alternative energies to really get the ball rolling?
Re: How do we
written by Greg Ackerson , July 16, 2007
I'd say find someone local to you who generates bio-diesel, and subsidize him. E.g., there's a fellow about 50 miles or so from me who makes bio-diesel, but it's about a $1 a gallon more than petrol. (he still has regular customers, though) But if I gave him X dollars a month, he may be able to drop the price by 5 cents a gallon... which would hopefully attract a few more customers. If enough people did this across the country, it would push what is essentially a "novelty tech" into the mainstream.
Can we get it rolling?
written by Urbanlm , September 23, 2007
Egads. Such a GREAT idea/process. Wonder why it hasn't taken off yet? So many municipalities are DYING to reduce the amount of biodegradable solid waste, and other counties the huge amount of animal manure produced. What's up prof? I would have thought he'd have licensed it already.
SuperCow
written by Alcohol Treatment Rehab , March 19, 2008
It seems that nature has proven us once again that its simplicity can save the human kind from self-destruction and by using this method, we could save the ozone layer.
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