Flex fuel technology

[Booldawg]

I've just read an article on well flex fuel technology has worked so well in Brazil (they manufacture ethanol from fermenting cane sugar and run cars on it). Why hasnt it taken hold throughout the world.?It seems a much better alternative to petrol

[kempie]

It has been calculated that worldwide there is sufficient land (that is not currently growing food) to produce over 100 billion gallons of ethanol a year, on a sustainable basis. This is not enough to sustain the US alone at its present rate of petrol consumption.

Almost all of the arable land on Earth would need to be covered with the fastest-growing known energy crops, such as switchgrass, to produce the amount of energy currently consumed from fossil fuels annually.

[Whickerman]

What kempie says.

Also, the increase in use of land for this fuel has directly led to an increase in the price of grains and has pushed up the price of basic foodstuffs already.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in_depth/7281686.st m

http://www.independent.ie/business/biofuels-gi ve-us-food-for-thought-1054106.html

[Booldawg]

Thanks for the answers guys. Maybe properly administered with a certain allowed acreage across the world it could work in tandem with petrol as I read that the fuel can be mixed.

This could also boost the African economy as the Brazilians developed hardy strains of sugar cane that can thrive almost anywhere.

[Whickerman]

Unfortunately, that also causes environmental issues booldawg. They Brazilians have been removing rainforest for years for beef production, but that's nothing compared to the tracts of land being cleared for the production of biofuel.

[Mortartube]

Just wondered, is it possible to use seaweed for biofuel(diesel)/ethanol production? That would greatly increase the scope of crop available for fuel production.