Ethanol - Henry Ford's Choice!
03:06:11 AM - 2007-05-18
ETHANOL WAS THE FUEL HENRY FORD DESCRIBED AS THE FUEL OF THE FUTURE IN THE 1920's - 1930's
Yes Ethanol was the fuel of choice for Henry Ford's first cars in 1908, the Model T which can be modified to run on either gasoline or pure alcohol.
Ethanol was first prepared synthetically in 1826 and the process for distillation used today emerged two years later 1826.
The Model T was designed to run on alcohol, which Henry Ford described as the fuel of the future, and efforts were made in the 1920's - 30's to substain an Ethanol programme.
Now almost 100 year's later there is renewed interest in Ethanol-blended Fuel that has spawned a host of spinoffs throughout the agricultural world.
World oil concerns could be solved in one generation by serious investment in energy production,
is the belief of Bert Heemskerk the global boss of Rabobank,which he said in Australia recently.
He backed up his assertion by announcing a US $500 million fund to invest in "clean technology" and more sustainable energy supplies.
The sign of the increasing interest in ethanol from big business is Wall Street investors lining up to back new ethanol plants, of which there are 200 in the planning stage.
They will result in an extra three billion tonnes of capacity needing 27 million more tonnes of grain and the aim is 15 billion gallons of Ethamol by 2015.
A whole new farm economy is emerging in the United States in the quest for renewable energy and already this is leading to a "food for fuel" debate.
Over 90 million acres have been sown in maize in the US this year and now the debate has began over whether finite land resources should be devoted to growing crops for food or for fuel.
It is also being argued that the swing to Ethanol production is taking too much grain away from the food markets.
Huge processing plants in the US have rejuvenated rural communities and local business.
Corn is the primary feedstock for Ethanol production, about 13% of the nations corn crop went into Ethanol in 2005 - some 1.43 Billion bushells.
Ethanol can also be made from other grains such as sorghum as well as from "biomass" sources such as corn cobs, cornstalks, wheat straw, rice straw, switchgrass, vegetable and forestry waste and other organic matter.
So Ethanol is no new thing, it has been around since the early 18 century, and as Henry Ford said it is going to be the fuel of the future, as today it is touted as the only proven commercial scale renewable transportation fuel in the market place.
Elsie Hagley |
Post Comment | Read Comments (0)
|
MY BEAUTIFUL COUNTRY!
