http://gristmill.grist.org/story/2006/2/2/52324/18981#3
I'm waiting for the big agri-chem-bizz and nuke you ler corporations to announce that they are processing corn into ethanol using nuke-you-ler cogeneration.
Waste heat from nukes heating the mash for fermentation and then distilling the ethanol off. Triple distilling is used so it is a major cost of ethanol and a major energy input.
The industry will report the great news as unparralelled efficiency that lowers costs and greenhouse gas emmissions.
The process of turning cellulose to fuel is even more energy intensive, so that will benefit even more from cogeneration. And cellulosic feed stock is much cheaper than corn, making this process even cheaper than corn to ethanol.
Say goodbye to a widespread trend towards wind, solar, and electric cars if/when this happens.
In other words, if big ag and nuke execs realize that this will make them the winners in the energy revolution, we could very well be looking at fields and forests turning into energy farms at an alarming rate.
And an excuse to build more and more nuke-you-ler cogeneration powered biofuel plants, that in turn provides an excuse to build more nuke-you-ler power plants.
Good thing few of these energy execs ever listen to the chemical engineers that work for them. Corporations that depend upon technology used to be run by engineers, but now they are run by accountants.
That is the slim edge we have in this fight, but given the huge profits and political power at stake, how long will that be the case?
Most accountants are technically illiterate petty tyrants it's true, but do they love money and power enough to sacrifice their egos this time around? Let's hope not.
