we are due to export 1 billion bushels of soybeans to china and brazil. with the shortfall of available bio d what would the correct conversion number be?

jtf has the yield per hectare but i have a hard time with fractions and mmin wrench sizes w/o thinking of land mass.

some help please.

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[1981 300 td tdidi 165500 dark brown/palamino-Brownie-mine-3k miles of ownership
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240d-144+ Manilla Yellow w/ palmino interior-greasecar kit-Blondie-the college kids car

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21" khs tandem

Are you sure there's a biodiesel shortfall? Our local retailer claims that most of the production from a plant in Houston is exported to Europe.

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Never a dull moment at Berry Hill Farm.

I'm not sure exactly what number you are going after, but let me give it a try.

1 billion bushels to China.
A bushel of soybeans is about 60 pounds
Soybeans are about 18% oil by weight
Soybean biodiesel weighs about 7.35 pounds per gallon

Hence, a bushel of soybeans yields about 1.46 gallons of biodiesel, and a billion bushels yields about 1.469 billion gallons of biodiesel.

Oil is a byproduct of soybean meal production (which is generally considered the valuable part of the soybean). We used to make the meal in the US, and then ship China the meal, but they are industrialized enough to buy the whole bean for processing in China. That means they pay us less, and take both the oil and the meal, for separating in China. We get less money, and give more product. Its like we are shipping China layers of topsoil in the form of beans.

peace,
sam

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"That f***in' biodiesel is makin' me hungry."

1982 300TD Astral Silver w/ 250k (BIO BNZ)
2001 Aprilia SR50 Corsa Red w/ 5.5k (>100 MPG)

I found the figure of 48 gallons soy oil per acre.

http://journeytoforever.org/biodiesel_yield.html

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http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b1...oD/bioclip.jpg

And I'll bet that figure varies quite a bit due to soil and climate conditions............

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"He who fights with monsters might take care lest he thereby become a monster. And if you gaze for long into an abyss, the abyss gazes also into you." - Friedrich Nietzsche

This is assuming one gallon of oil yields one gallon of biodiesel, which it does not. The actual yield of biodiesel is going to be less than the 1.46 gallons.

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Keep everything as simple as possible-but no simpler--Albert Einstein

Today's SUPER-SOY hybrids and mega-doping fertilizers have very little variability in yield. However, numbers between 48-55 gallons per acre are good averages. Our country's soy production is so high that it is watched very closely.

peace,
sam

__________________
"That f***in' biodiesel is makin' me hungry."

1982 300TD Astral Silver w/ 250k (BIO BNZ)
2001 Aprilia SR50 Corsa Red w/ 5.5k (>100 MPG)

I think the yield of Biodiesel from virgin vegi oil is like 80-85% I doubt it will be much higher

__________________
Proud owner of ....
1971 280SE W108
1979 300SD W116
1983 300D W123
1975 Ironhead Sportster chopper
1987 GMC 3/4 ton 4X4 Diesel
1989 Honda Civic (Heavily modified)
---------------------
Section 609 MVAC Certified
---------------------
"He who fights with monsters might take care lest he thereby become a monster. And if you gaze for long into an abyss, the abyss gazes also into you." - Friedrich Nietzsche

Yield is in the high 90%s. Most operations exceed 98% yield.

If your yield is less than 98% your process isn't right, you are either losing too much to soap, or losing too much in your wash stage due to emulsification from soaps and mono/di-glycerides.

One gallon of virgin oil = .98 gallons of biodiesel, at least.

peace,
sam

__________________
"That f***in' biodiesel is makin' me hungry."

1982 300TD Astral Silver w/ 250k (BIO BNZ)
2001 Aprilia SR50 Corsa Red w/ 5.5k (>100 MPG)

Soybeans produce 335 puonds of oil per acre or approx. 7.5 lbs/ gal = 48 gals per acre. Why we produce soybeans for BD is beyond me when canola/rapeseed produces 893 lbs oil/ acre or 127 gal/acre. Rapeseed methyl esters have a lower cloud point as well.

Gary T

'98 E300 132k

Soy isn't popular for biodiesel because its the best for biodiesel, but because the oil is a byproduct that the soy industry doesn't know what to do with. We grow soybeans to get the meal, but to get the meal you have to press the oil out. Now you've got your valuable meal, and your useless oil. Why not find a use for that oil, like biodiesel!

If you planted a crop with just biodiesel in mind, there are far better choices like you mentioned, but right now, no one actually grows 'biodiesel crops'. They grow other stuff that happens to make oil as a side-effect, and the biodiesel industry steps in and uses it.

As things get bigger, more people will begin to focus on true oil-crops, like rapeseed and mustard variants, and eventually advanced crops like algae. At this point though we are limited to being a co-product of soy meal.

peace,
sam

__________________
"That f***in' biodiesel is makin' me hungry."

1982 300TD Astral Silver w/ 250k (BIO BNZ)
2001 Aprilia SR50 Corsa Red w/ 5.5k (>100 MPG)

I recently listened to a talk by Dr. Bhakta Rath, Associate Director of Research, U.S Naval Research Laboratory. One thing I took away from the talk.... he stated it was calculated that to manufacture fuel for all the transportation needs in the US with plants, we would need to plant on every available piece of land in the US.

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95 E320 Cabriolet, 169K

I'm hesitant to accept any claim of 'its calculated that it would take (x) amount of biomass to fuel the nation' without knowing more about how it was calculated. Some people assume standard crops, others assume 100% ideal crops, other people assume biomass to ethanol, or biomass to biodiesel, or biomass to fischer troph synthesis or thermal depolymerization (all of which have very different energy balances). Some people assume that the crops would be using waste streams from existing sources, others assume that the crops must be 100% self sustaining, etc.

Basically I've seen legit calculations that show that we could power the world on Texas's aerable land, and others showing that even every square foot on earth can't grow enough to fuel the US. Both calculations are 'correct', but based on different assumptions.

I'd like to hear more about Dr. Rath's calculations, because without a list of the assumptions made in making the calculation, it is very hard to interpret correctly.

peace,
sam

__________________
"That f***in' biodiesel is makin' me hungry."

1982 300TD Astral Silver w/ 250k (BIO BNZ)
2001 Aprilia SR50 Corsa Red w/ 5.5k (>100 MPG)

Talking about using all the avalible land to produce oil, you can also use higher oil producing crops less land for the same amount of oil.

I LIKE rapeseed.

Ken300D

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1982 300D at 351K miles
1984 300SD at 217K miles
1987 300D at 370K miles