5 ms·
Cool idea... but doing some back-of-the-envelope calcs on this, I get: Yield, assuming 3 harvests/year = ~ 24,000 l ethanol per year Price of ethanol =~ $1/l.
by D_Alex 12y ago
Cool idea... but doing some back-of-the-envelope calcs on this, I get:
Yield, assuming 3 harvests/year = ~ 24,000 l ethanol per year
Price of ethanol =~ $1/l... if feedstock = 50% of price, then value of beet grown = ~ $12,000/year
Neglecting all running and maintenance costs,to get a 6% return you'd need to cover your hectare with conveyor belt for $200,000... that's $20/m2, inc substructure. Considering carpet costs $40+/m2... I doubt this could be done economically.
Comments?
- skj 12y agoCarpet may cost $40/m^2 to lay down (actually a bit less than that), but it costs significantly less to maintain. Yes, there'd be an up-front investment, but you just need to keep your maintenance down.
- smeyer 12y agoThe commenter is already assuming no maintenance costs. The $20/m^2 is the number you'd have to hit to be economically viable (with $0 maintenance) rather than putting the money in the market for a 6% return.