Re: Which of These Feedstocks would Yield the Greatest Amount of Liquid Fuels?

Shawn,

Each has its advantages:

• Making fuel from garbage is guaranteed a steady source of fuel and solves a garbage disposal problem as well as helping with a fuel problem;
• fuel from cellulose takes best advantage of currently existing agricultural technology and underutilized land;
• fuel from algae has the highest potential yield relative to nutrient inputs, being potentially an efficient means to convert solar power.

None of these alternatives is altogether clean, either: all have by- products that must be disposed of, and consequences for whatever land or water is devoted to their generation. For the most part, these energy sources match up well against fossil fuels for reducing air pollution and generating energy in a more sustainable fashion. But all combustion-based fuel sources release greenhouse gases, and so are limited in how they match up against truly renewable energy sources such as solar power (not that solar power is perfect, either) -- all energy solutions demand compromise between cost, environmental impact, and energy yield.

--Edward H.