Ferm.+Still VS Bio Reactor

[Mash]

I use the Bio Reactor simply for the speed. Sure, maybe stills are at this juncture most efficient, but they're not that efficient.

Besides, expanding a farm is easy. Making a setup that supports enough stills and fermenters to equal 2-3 bio reactors is not.

 

[Ganoly3]

I use the Bio Reactor simply for the speed. Sure, maybe stills are at this juncture most efficient, but they're not that efficient.

Besides, expanding a farm is easy. Making a setup that supports enough stills and fermenters to equal 2-3 bio reactors is not.

This is exactly why I'm leaning towards to Bio Reactor. I already have many farms ready to send saplings and seeds, so materials are not much of a problem.

 

[Peppe]

If the source of biomass is saplings they are not more efficient, but honestly it is a lot easier to farm the other stuff reactors work with vs saplings.

Tested reactors against themselves. They have only 1 speed. Fuel types only affect the efficiency. If you put just a single type in it will consume about 2 items a second, but give you that same 16.5 still equivalent output. Even with one type the biofuel per unit is about twice as good as the cane/wheat/cactus yield in forestry.

Adding saplings as the 8 or 9th item will probably net you about the same efficiency as the forestry process.

 

[Mash]

This is exactly why I'm leaning towards to Bio Reactor. I already have many farms ready to send saplings and seeds, so materials are not much of a problem.

In that case, Bio Reactors are definitely right up your alley.

It's a beautiful little device, though it will gobble through your materials quite fast. Make sure that your sapling/seed production is up to par. Aside from that, though, it's quite nice. It also doesn't require any power at all, so no matter how inefficient it is, it will ALWAYS pay for itself.

Also, you may want to look into an MFR harvester/planter set up. It allows you to automate the harvesting of redwood trees, which give MASSIVE amounts of saplings and wood, for dry boilers.

 

[Peppe]

In that case, Bio Reactors are definitely right up your alley.

It's a beautiful little device, though it will gobble through your materials quite fast. Make sure that your sapling/seed production is up to par. Aside from that, though, it's quite nice. It also doesn't require any power at all, so no matter how inefficient it is, it will ALWAYS pay for itself.

The no power aspect makes probably the best block to have available for emergency power to an AE network that has gone dark...

Edit:
Testing the speed. It makes and can output 10mb of biofuel every tick, so a bucket every 5 seconds.

Confirmed another way. If you ever backlog with a cobblestone waterproof pipe it won't empty out as the pipe can only transfer 10 a tick as well, so it is made as fast as it empties.

With that math one bio-reactor can support 20.2 HP 36 tank boilers (at full heat they use a bucket of biofuel every 101 seconds)...

Edit 2:
At max efficiency (9 item types). You will need one of each material every 144 ticks = 7.2 seconds

 

[Hlaaftana]

Let me tell you what's best, use Bio Reactors with Combustion Engines. That way, 12,5 saplings will be enough for 800k mj.

 

[ShneekeyTheLost]

Let me tell you what's best, use Bio Reactors with Combustion Engines. That way, 12,5 saplings will be enough for 800k mj.

Unless you're looking for MJ/t, in which case 16 MJ/t out of Bio Generator beats the 4 MJ/t of Combustion engines on Biofuel like a red-headed stepchild.