Well, for one thing, the fuel tanks on our vehicles would have to be ENORMOUS!
Sorry, I couldn?t help myself.
I will now provide you with a sincere, if not completely serious, answer. Keep in mind, I?m a biologist, not a physicist, so if the following argument contains some gaping holes, please cut me some slack.
Your question is a great example of thinking outside the box. Unfortunately, it?s also a great example of thinking outside the laws of physics? specifically, the 2nd Law of Thermodynamics, which states that (I?m paraphrasing here) every time energy changes form or moves from one place to another, some of it is lost.
What has this got to do with using venison to power vehicles?
Because energy has to change forms many times before deer can become fuel?more times than it takes to change corn into fuel.
The simple, not very nuanced explanation goes like this. Earth gets all of its energy from the sun. The chlorophyll in plants?in your example, corn?collects and transforms sunlight into sugars, which in turn are used to make leaves and stalks and flowers and seeds. A deer comes along and eats the corn, transforming it into muscle, bone, fur, fat, fawns and movement. Transforming deer into a fuel that could be used to power a vehicle would entail yet another change.
Even more simply stated, the reason your idea sounds too good to be true is that it IS too good to be true. Deer are a less efficient source of fuel than the corn used grow deer.
That said, you?re not the only one who has been thinking creatively about alternative sources for biofuel. About 5 years ago, Michael Wolford, a Master?s student in Environmental Management at Webster University in Missouri wrote a paper on the feasibility of converting waste from a turkey processing plant into fuel. The process generated about 2.5 barrels of #4 diesel fuel per ton of waste. As a method for reducing the waste stream it works pretty well?instead of a bill from the local landfill you get some juice for your jalopy. But the focus of the study was on whether one could produce useable fuel from refuse, not whether you could produce that fuel more efficiently and/or economically than from corn. Unfortunately, you can?t.
One last comment: I doubt that our hypothetical farmer would agree that when you grow corn you get deer for free. The corn those deer consume isn?t free. The farmer has to pay for seed, water, fertilizer, herbicides, pesticides, machinery?not to mention fuel to run that machinery?and labor. Every kernel the deer eat reduces the farmer?s harvest, and is therefore money out of her pocket. Money that isn?t likely to be recouped by turning deer into diesel fuel.
Dr. Kieran