I have a fascination with energy efficiency and examining alternative fuels sources. I think it's part of the engineer in me to look into alternative technologies just as at work we look for alternative hardware and software architectures — lower power consumption, higher data throughput, less area, less memory, etc. I work in the embedded computer market which is quite different from desktop and server computers. In desktop computers it's all about speed: faster, faster, faster. However, you can't plop a Pentium into a cellphone unless you intend your battery to last just a few minutes (and your cell phone to get really hot!)
My friend, Will, and I have had lunch discussions about pros and cons of various energy sources. Two sources that I had heard rumors about being not as cool as the hype are ethanol and biodiesel. Doing a little searching today I came across this, “Study Slams Economics Of Ethanol And Biodiesel” -- a joint study between Cornell and Berkeley.
For ethanol production, the study found that:
I had heard such things before about ethanol but what surprised me was biodiesel. Biodiesel has been getting a big surge in popularity lately. The WSJ just did a long story on it a couple of days ago with Willie Nelson as its poster child (promoting BioWillie brand... gack!). For biodiesel production, the Cornell/Berkeley study found that:
On the plus side (at least from our home's perspective) the study's author “does advocate the use of burning biomass to produce thermal energy (to heat homes, for example).” It's a relief to know that at least our large investment in wood pellet heating isn't a complete waste.