Last time I noticed, the world trade price for raw sugar was about US$250/tonne (European and USA prices tend to be much higher with protection against excessive importing of cheaper sugar from tropical countries). I can't find what the conversion efficiency to gasoline will be like, but I'd suggest on a mass balance that more than 4 barrels a tonne would be challenging. So how will this be a cheap fuel?
Sugar cane has a better yield to sugar beet, not surprising since it is grown in tropical/sub-tropical areas and the plants grow several metres tall compared to a bulbous root under the ground. It also has the advantage of having a byproduct (bagasse) that can be used as a fuel to run the sugar mill. Beet factories require fuel from other sources, which increases the processing cost.
There is at least one international patent (WO2006/017888-A1) lodged by Max Whisson on this invention. On a quick look, the turbine drives a refrigeration compressor and the blades are refrigerated. Then there are some collection baffles over a drip tray to extract the water droplets. The examiner appears to have identified some similar patents and one in particular looks to be problematic to some claims. I guess he will try to modify the invention/patent to avoid the prior art and that is why he doesn't want the revised invention published at the moment.
Slashdot Mirror
Last time I noticed, the world trade price for raw sugar was about US$250/tonne (European and USA prices tend to be much higher with protection against excessive importing of cheaper sugar from tropical countries). I can't find what the conversion efficiency to gasoline will be like, but I'd suggest on a mass balance that more than 4 barrels a tonne would be challenging. So how will this be a cheap fuel? Sugar cane has a better yield to sugar beet, not surprising since it is grown in tropical/sub-tropical areas and the plants grow several metres tall compared to a bulbous root under the ground. It also has the advantage of having a byproduct (bagasse) that can be used as a fuel to run the sugar mill. Beet factories require fuel from other sources, which increases the processing cost.
There is at least one international patent (WO2006/017888-A1) lodged by Max Whisson on this invention. On a quick look, the turbine drives a refrigeration compressor and the blades are refrigerated. Then there are some collection baffles over a drip tray to extract the water droplets. The examiner appears to have identified some similar patents and one in particular looks to be problematic to some claims. I guess he will try to modify the invention/patent to avoid the prior art and that is why he doesn't want the revised invention published at the moment.