Fuel prices for 2008

[BUSTER]

I had an interesting conversation with a friend of mine not too long agoconcerning bio-fuels. Keep in mind that this guy has not only one of the biggest dairy farms around here,but the most efficient. He even automatically collects all the waste from the cows,liquifies it,stores it in silos to compost,then pumps off the methane gas to run huge generators to not only power the farm,buts sells a good bit back to the power company.

According to my friend,the diesel fuel required to produce the feed that he grows to feed the entire herd but instead was converted to bio-fuel,would be impractable as the yield would be far more expensive than buying diesel fuel.

The crops he grows are corn and alfalfa.
He is a sharp guy "even though he has a Bertram"lol, and I suspect he may be right.
Tony

[DeeRow]

...According to my friend,the diesel fuel required to produce the feed that he grows to feed the entire herd but instead was converted to bio-fuel,would be impractable as the yield would be far more expensive than buying diesel fuel...
Tony

The article also compared the efficiency of biofuel sources. Corn is the least efficent source of biofuels. Algae is the most efficient. Efficiency is defined by the amount of energy required to yield a gallon of fuel. Corn yielded 1.3 gallons per 1 gallon (ethanol). Algae yielded something like 5 gallons (diesel). Corn must be "cooked" to break it down. Algae needs to be pressed. The article gave me some hope that biofuels have a chance. If nothing else a little competition to oil might put some downward pressure on the price of fuel.

[krush]

When it comes to "growing fuel" the hippies and most people don't realize that agriculture is often just a raping of the Earth.

Between the runoff and excess fertilizer all the way to the draining of aquifers to irrigate, it isn't as eco-friendly as the hypocriteHippies make you believe.

[MikeP]

YEP! I was extremely upset when they closed Bridgehampton race track on Long Island because of environmental issues. To restore the area to a nice eco-friendly environment they planned to replace that disgusting environmental disaster with a golf course!

Half way between the destruction of the race track and the building of the course, somebody noted that a golf course was FAR more damaging to the environment (the chemical run-off you mentioned) than the race track ever was. Now it's all in limbo with neither a race track OR a golf course while they try to sort out what to do...

This is one reason I can get so PO'd over the no dumping laws when the fact is that a lectrasan converts the waste into a far safer "compound" than what is dumped into the rivers/lakes/oceans legally in accordance with current regulations. Uh Oh, the soap box beckons. I'll stop now

[Mambeaux]

Well this thread got me thinking about how much fuel I used last year.
I got the boat home Jan.5,07. My last fill up was Oct. 07.
I bought 1340 gal and spent $3500 on fuel in 2007

[Genesis]

The reason algae (aquaculture) works as a legitimate potential replacement is two-fold:

1. Yield is high enough to make it work, assuming you have lots of land.
2. The land does not need to othewise be arable (there is no "displacement") problem.

There IS, however, a water and energy problem. Both are solved with nuclear electrical generation.

Corn (or, for that matter, cellulosic) ethanol is a huge net lose, although cellulosic is LESS of one.

[Passages]

I'm strongly tempted to run down to Orlando in 2 weeks and stop in at the National Biodiesel conference. I think there's a good business case for commercial BD, but I'm at the exploration/diligence stage.

Hey, if I DO set up a regional refining facility, I'll give all visiting HOF members
1 free tankful of B-100. (Be sure to have extra filters)

[luckydave215]

I just returned from 16 days on the 105ft Red Rooster III fishing tuna and wahoo on the Hurricane bank (a 60 fathom spot the size of a football field ~500 miles southwest of Cabo San Lucas, literally in the middle of nowhere)
On the way south, we stopped in Ensenada Mexico to bunker.
The fuel was $2.10/gallon, $1.25 cheaper than in San Diego. We took on more than 10,000 gallons, so the stop and customs paper work dance was more than worth it.
Since Ensenada is 60 miles from home, I'm thinking about bunkering there myself. It won't be worth it unless I heading south in the first place, but.......


BTW 300 pound yellowfin DO live at the hurricane, contrary to popular belief.