Posted by admin | Posted in Solar Power | Posted on 17-02-2010
Tags: design, energy, gain, passive, solar, solar gain calculation, solar gain calculator, solar gain tucson, solar gain windows, solar gainesville
Engineers – is it feasible to use solar energy to power a system that converts corn products to ethanol?
One of the major complaints about ethanol is that there’s little, if any, net gain in energy. Is the state of the science sufficiently advanced to allow solar power to be the primary energy supply?
I would like to say yes but at this point I would have to say no. I worked at an ethanol pilot plant and anyone in the industry can tell you to break down starch in the corn you need what they call a jet cooker. This uses high pressure steam at appx 400-600F. There is no way in hell solar panels could heat water to this temperature effeciently and consistently. Plus a lot of ethanol plants run 24 hours a day and that right there pretty much shoots that plan in the ass. A good thought though. Ethanol will become more effecient once the enzyme industry catches up and can CHEAPLY use switchgrass as a fuel source.
Halcyon Shades Eliminate Glare and Reduce Solar Gain By 80%