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I wonder if the technology to convert sugar to ethanol exists in the 1960s, which would probably involve yeast. Even turning it to charcoal using sulfuric acid

by yuhong 10y ago

I wonder if the technology to convert sugar to ethanol exists in the 1960s, which would probably involve yeast. Even turning it to charcoal using sulfuric acid would be better. (background: https://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/13/well/eat/how-the-sugar-industry-shifted-blame-to-fat.html https://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/13/well/eat/how-the-sugar-in...)

gjm11 10y ago
The technology to convert sugar to ethanol probably existed in the 6660s. BC, that is. (And yes, it probably involved yeast.)
- yuhong 10y ago
  And burning the ethanol in say power plants would not be hard even back then and better than burning fossil fuels, right?
  - r00fus 10y ago
    EROEI would have something to say about that - where's the power used in harvesting and refining the sugar vs. refining crude oil? BioFuels, unless you're talking about biodiesel which was generally using waste byproduct, are a losing proposition. Solar, Nuclear, Wind all provide a much higher total output than biofuels. [1] http://www.roperld.com/science/minerals/EROEIFossilFuels.htm http://www.roperld.com/science/minerals/EROEIFossilFuels.htm
    - yuhong 10y ago
      The point is whether it would be better than eating the sugar, hence why I posted the nytimes link.
      - r00fus 10y ago
        The point is not to invest in sugar or corn creation in the first place simply to have it turn into fuel or sweeteners.