Start-Up Uses Plant Seeds for a Biofuel
nytimes.com
Start-Up Uses Plant Seeds for a Biofuel
1–10 of 35 posts
Re: Start-Up Uses Plant Seeds for a Biofuel
#2So....is it still oil? What is the molecular difference between bio-fuel and regular ol' jet fuel? What is the difference after it is burned? Seems ridiculously cool.
Re: Start-Up Uses Plant Seeds for a Biofuel
#3Why Brazil? Because of the climate? If this becomes financially viable for the farmers there, won't they burn down even more of the rain forest just to grow these?
Re: Start-Up Uses Plant Seeds for a Biofuel
#4So....is it still oil? What is the molecular difference between bio-fuel and regular ol' jet fuel? What is the difference after it is burned? Seems ridiculously cool.
What's your definition of "oil"? It's still hydrocarbons, and can still be refined into at least some of the same compounds that so-called "mineral oil" (petroleum) is.
The big difference is that it's more or less carbon-neutral. The carbon released from burning petrochemicals was underground for tens or hundreds of millions of years, and hence increases atmospheric CO₂ concentrations. Like all biofuels, on the other hand, the carbon released from burning jatropha-derived fuels was sucked from the atmosphere as the plant grew.
Re: Start-Up Uses Plant Seeds for a Biofuel
#5So....is it still oil? What is the molecular difference between bio-fuel and regular ol' jet fuel? What is the difference after it is burned? Seems ridiculously cool.
I don't think there's any real difference between biofuel and regular fuels except that biofuels might (don't quote me here) be a bit less energy dense which is just an engineering problem.
The big problem with biofuel is that it takes farmland to grow it on which means said farmland isn't making food crops.
Re: Start-Up Uses Plant Seeds for a Biofuel
#6So.. paywall.
Re: Start-Up Uses Plant Seeds for a Biofuel
#7So....is it still oil? What is the molecular difference between bio-fuel and regular ol' jet fuel? What is the difference after it is burned? Seems ridiculously cool.
I don't think there's any real difference between biofuel and regular fuels except that biofuels might (don't quote me here) be a bit less energy dense which is just an engineering problem. The big problem with biofuel is that it takes farmland to grow it on which means said farmland isn't making food crops.
The big problem with biofuel is that it takes farmland to grow it on
Jatropha is interesting, partly for this reason. It grows happily in semi-desert environments that are not suitable for traditional farmland.
Re: Start-Up Uses Plant Seeds for a Biofuel
#8So.. paywall.
It's worth paying for.
Re: Start-Up Uses Plant Seeds for a Biofuel
#9not optimistic (know the company personally). Communicated to the founder that he should pivot to specialty lubricants (for example low temperature lubricants that are used in satellites), wasn't interested.
Re: Start-Up Uses Plant Seeds for a Biofuel
#10So....is it still oil? What is the molecular difference between bio-fuel and regular ol' jet fuel? What is the difference after it is burned? Seems ridiculously cool.
I don't think there's any real difference between biofuel and regular fuels except that biofuels might (don't quote me here) be a bit less energy dense which is just an engineering problem. The big problem with biofuel is that it takes farmland to grow it on which means said farmland isn't making food crops.
Pardon me for being a bit pedantic here but not all bio fuels require farmland.
Bacterial based processes (generally e.coli) work in digestor/reactors), algae based fuels simply need access to sunlight (can be grown in tubes attached to the side of buildings). Further some starter crops can use land that is not deemed arable by farming standards.