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mixture of a reactive gas called synthesis gas, which could then be 

 taken to the next step to produce the methyl alcohol, so it is 

 essentially a thermal chemical, to use that earlier term, as opposed 

 to a biochemical process common to the production of ethyl alcohol, 

 which involves fermentation. 



Now, doing this avoids the costly kind of distillation that you end 

 up with if you ferment a mixture, and end up with 12 or 14 percent 

 ethyl alcohol in a mixture of water, which then must be distilled, 

 because in other words you are selectively manufacturing methyl 

 alcohol. The method of reaction is known as indirect, it is an 

 indirect conversion process, and can always utilize coal as the 

 feedstock. 



Mr. FoRSYTHE. Of course, the technology is here. Is there any- 

 thing new about methyl alcohol or ethyl alcohol? It gets down to 

 the feedstock involved, does it not? 



Mr. Adams. Yes, sir. 



Mr. FoRSYTHE. And these economies of scale in that regard, as to 

 what we can really get as the input. Whether we are going to kelp 

 so far as ocean mass, biomass input, or whether it is going to be 

 vegetation, nobody seems to have mentioned Brazil, for instance, 

 but they are talking about — yes, going the ethyl route, in using 

 sugarcane, where they have got a climate that is almost ideal — a 

 climate that we could not duplicate in the continental United 

 States. 



I hope, Mr. Chairman, Mr. Emery does get here, because I know 

 he has an interest in this very area. He has been a promoter, for 

 instance, of conversion of wood products, particularly in Maine, 

 into methyl alcohol for automotive use specifically. 



What are the cost factors for the conversion of biomass produced 

 on land versus ocean? 



Mr. Adams. The actual conversion costs for terrestrial and aquat- 

 ic biomass are probably on the same order of magnitude. The raw 

 material costs on a dry weight basis are likely to be lower for land- 

 based biomass than for fresh water/sea water derived biomass. The 

 reason is the cost involved in harvesting and concentrating the 

 aquatic biomass. The potential of aquatic biomass for very high 

 production rates is well documented and, if realized on a large 

 scale, could reduce raw material costs dramatically. However, tech- 

 nically and economically viable systems have yet to be demon- 

 strated. 



Mr. Forsythe, if we know a better source of information, I am not 

 aware of it right now. We would be happy to put together a 

 compendium of information for you, which summarizes what we do 

 think we know. 



Mr. Forsythe. I think that would be important. 



Mr. Adams. And submit it for the record as a compendium of 

 material, but as far as levels of confidence that one would place in 

 the information right now, I cannot stress enough the still early 

 nature of it. 



Mr. Forsythe. This is somewhat mystifying, because we are 

 really talking about technology of products that are certainly time 

 honored, in both ethyl alcohol, maybe a little more time honored in 

 methyl, but that is nothing new basically here in what you do in 

 the way of feedstocks, and where it comes in, in the cost range, and 



