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Technology Stocks : Cisco Systems, Inc. - Off-topic postings

CSCO 73.11

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To: Sailtrader who wrote (194)	9/12/2008 10:14:05 AM
From: Eric	Read Replies (1) of 230

My guess is that within about 5 or 6 years farmers will give up on growing corn for ethanol production. It looks like this year roughly 30% of corn production in the United States will be dedicated to ethanol. I think its funny and sad at the same time. About 20 years ago my brother and I got into an argument about growing crops for energy. My education is in Physics and Electrical Engineering, his education is in Biology. He explained in extreme detail the problem of growing plants of any kind to make energy in the form of liquid fuels. His bottom line was the "efficiency" of plants in converting solar energy into plant matter. The most efficient plant grown on land is sugar cane. When you look at the actual efficiency it is only about 3%. And that's before you try to convert it into a usable fuel! "Thus, the solar energy-to-ethanol conversion efficiency is 0.13%" Thats less than 1 percent!! en.wikipedia.org "It has been estimated that "if every bushel of U.S. corn, wheat, rice and soybean were used to produce ethanol, it would only cover about 4% of U.S. energy needs on a net basis." Sunpower's best PV panel has a solar efficiency of 22.5%! Concentrating Solar Power has a efficiency of 35 to 40%! Why in the world we would try to make fuel out of plants is just nuts... But Boeing is gravely concerned. Boeing has a crash program now looking into growing algae as a substitute feedstock to create a biofuel product to replace current jet fuels, a few of my friends are currently working on that project at Boeing. I would hold onto your land if it is productive. With the coming shortages of food being predicted as a result of population growth and water shortages developing in many areas of the world your farm land should continue to appreciate. JMHO

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