"You can gassify it and then run it through a conversion plant and create methane, methanol, ethanol, or about anything you can make with petrochemicals."
The primary objection I hear is that both biodiesel and ethanol yield less energy as a fuel than is required to manufacture them. Any thoughts or observations on this?
I am more familiar with ethanol, see above post.
I think the problem with biodiesel is that they are using the heat value of the seed oil as the final measured product, ignoring the other products produced. It's late, let me clarify. You start with a whole plant, take the seed and throw away the rest. You then squeeze the seed and get a little oil, ignoring the left-over protein and carbohydrate. You then treat the oil with a little alkali and end up with a little biodiesel. By the time you calculate planting, fertilizing, pesticide, harvesting, hauling, processing, there is alot of energy and money invested is that tiny fraction of the plant.