Reality Check on Joule

Companies entering commercialization tend to make some pretty bombastic claims. Among them is a company called Joule Unlimited, which was recently reported by Biofuels Digest to claim a yield of up to 25,000 gallons of ethanol per acre from the sugar produced by their product, comparing it to a yield of roughly 800 gallons per acre planted in sugarcane.

Numbers like that don't tend to inspire confidence in me. Over thirty times the yield? Time for a reality check.