Cnet.com shows us how Edinburgh Napier University’s Biofuel Research Center in Scotland have learned how butanol biofuel can be made with Scotch whisky by-products. Thirty percent more energy is received with the waste Butanol than Butanol would vie when made from ethanol, reports an MIT Technology review. Miles per gallon are likely to go up from this. Sky News explains that Butanol is 25 percent better in efficiency than ethanol is.
Whiskey-based biofuel unburdened by ethanol’s limitations
Ethanol must be blended with traditional gasoline (and only in limited amounts), while butanol suffers from no such limitation. This is because butanol is already a key part of gasoline. Technology Review reports that butanol doesn’t absorb water making it great for going through pipelines which isn’t really like ethanol.
The powers that be love their corn
The Renewable Fuel Standard has made it so subsidies are given to corn growers along with numerous good tariffs and tax credits. The Bastiat Institute indicates the ethanol industry also has the ear of Congress, as its Fueling Freedom Plan calls for higher ethanol mix caps and more expensive engines to accommodate the new mix. The expense will fall squarely upon taxpayer shoulders.
Bastiat also thinks that since taxpayers have been giving so much to pay for ethanol fuel research, the ethanol lobby needs to back off of the government. Ethanol less than 10 percent would make octane better, although whiskey-based butanol is likely to be the best option for fuel efficiency. Taxpayers would rather pay for research on how to make butanol.
You may do really well with saving on autoloans
Further reading
Bastiat Institute
bastiatinstitute.org/2010/08/19/the-ethanol-industry-and-competition/
CNET
news.cnet.com/8301-11128_3-20013827-54.html
Grow the Energy
growthenergy.org/ethanol-issues-policy/fueling-freedom-plan/?/fuelingfreedom
MIT Technology Review
technologyreview.com/business/25956/
Video news coverage of Scottish butanol production
youtube.com/watch?v=PV3evuZiJ4w
