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Wednesday October 6, 2004

[ 6:40 pm] Corn Fields Replace Oil Fields

Seems the high cost of petroleum is fueling (or justifying spending for) a University of Illinois research project into more efficient methods of creating an alternative from corn.

Microbiologist Hans Blaschek is leading the project and had this to say in the news release:

"The U.S. has access to significant amounts of biobased resources ... still largely focused on providing raw materials for the food, feed and fiber industries and not on chemicals and fuels."
Blaschek hopes that this research will ... provide the need for an additional 200 million bushels of corn for the production of butanol and acetone alone.

Time to buy a farm...

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Discussion:

But it takes more energy to make ethanol than it then produces. Do not buy a cornfield yet!

Posted by: at October 6, 2004 11:35 PM

According to a July 2002 report from the USDA, the output:input ratio for corn ethanol at that time was 1:34

The report can be read at http://www.usda.gov/oce/oepnu/aer-813.pdf

Posted by: janice at October 7, 2004 12:02 PM
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