[Michaelangelica]

Some links
Study: Miscanthus More Than Twice as Productive as Switchgrass for Energy Crop

Green Car Congress: Study: Miscanthus More Than Twice as Productive as Switchgrass for Energy Crop

HAYWARD--- Mendel Biotechnology Announces Acquisition of Miscanthus Breeding Program from Tinplant
3/30/2007 @ 6:58 AM print this article - email to a friend - join our eNewsletter
Mendel Biotechnology, Inc. ("Mendel") today announced the acquisition of the entire Miscanthus breeding program from Tinplant Biotechnik und Pflanzenvermehrung GmbH ("Tinplant"), a German breeding and plant science company. Miscanthus is one of the leading candidates for dedicated energy crops for production of biofuels such as ethanol from lignocellulosic plant material. This acquisition positions Mendel to be the leading developer of Miscanthus varieties for the cellulosic ethanol industry worldwide.

HAYWARD--- Mendel Biotechnology Announces Acquisition of Miscanthus Breeding Program from Tinplant

[freeztar]

Originally Posted by Michaelangelica

Growing Pumpkin seed for biofuel. i don't think so.

Have a look at this link, it's pretty interesting.

The MTN pilot project will use locally grown groundnuts, pumpkin seeds, jatropha and palm oil to manufacture the biodiesel necessary to power special generators linked to the base stations.

Ericsson builds a base station that runs on pumpkin seeds and soy beans

And according to this site, it would be better than corn.

http://www.data36rg/dsg.aspx?Data_Set_Group_Id=606

Funny we've never heard about it before.

[Michaelangelica]

"Well bugger me", as the actress said to the bishop.
That's the last time I will say 'that's not possible' when it comes to plants.
I should have learnt by now. I have shot my mouth off before and been proved wrong.

I was thinking of the huge pumpkins we grow with little seed. But there are small pumpkins. I am sure you could hybridise or develop varieties with more seed. I doubt if this has been done probably mostly (?) we have been looking for flesh.
Still its a big waste of biomass and potential pumpkin soup (and/or beer or hootch?)

The graph was interesting Avocardo was up there, and surprisingly, hemp was not.


I have been waiting for the usual summer glut of mangos. By this time of the year you can buy a tray of huge, ripe, delicious mangos for $10 or so. But they are still $1 to $2 +EACH in the shops.
I found out why. Truck drivers are refusing to bring them from far north Queensland as it costs too much in fuel (About 2,500 K about $4,000+ just in fuel)
I will add that gripe to the top of the list of my arguments for the removal of double tax on petrol and diesel here. For my argument see
View topic - Switchgrass as biofuel - Permaculture discussion forum


Ericsson is trying hard. We take so much for granted. Africa sounds like a nightmare where back to basics is the absolute rule. Where do you start?

In addition, Ericsson is supporting other initiatives to make its network equipment less fuel hungry or environmentally damaging.

Not allowed to post graph?

Napier grass- an annual crop

Botanical name?

Farmers start harvesting Napier grass when it is 3 months old

Google Image Result for http://www.push-pull.net/images/Napier%20Cutting.jpg

[Michaelangelica]

Sweet! Sugarcane is Australia's New Renewable Energy : TreeHugger

For the first time in over 125 years sugar cane farmers, in one region of Australia will not burn their crop at harvest time. Instead they will ship the still green waste and cane residue to a new 30 megawatt plants, where it will be burnt to generate power. It what has been described as “one of the country's biggest renewable electricity projects” the co-generation plants will provide baseload power 24 hours a day.

The plants are a joint project between energy provider Delta Electricity and the 650 strong cane growers co-op. They are expected to provide half the power needs of the local community, upwards of 20,000 homes, when they go online with the next harvest in June 2008. The added benefit is that six month cane-burning season won’t produce its usual 400,000 tonnes of greenhouse gases and associated air pollution. A classic win-win. Via ABC.

(Sugar Cane is versatile stuff. We’ve seen it used for a as well for wide variety of applications , as well as paper and even plates and cups. In a previous post we also looked at using macadamia nut waste to generate power.)

Image by ABC’s Damien Hooper
Sweet! Sugarcane is Australia's New Renewable Energy : TreeHugger

[Michaelangelica]

Just African Bush?
Green Electricity, Powered by the African Bush! : EcoWorldly

It seems destructive, yet they say it is a good idea.
Perhaps you need to be there to understand.

Hoping that a new administration in Washington could lead to changes in U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration laws, the Vermont House of Representatives has approved a bill clearing the way for farmers to grow industrial hemp.
The measure now moves to the state Senate for consideration.

Ecoscraps - A Scrapbook of the Green World

[Michaelangelica]

A GreenFuel Technologies bioreactor in operation.
Gallons of Oil per Acre per Year

Corn = 18

Soybeans = 48

Safflower = 83

Sunflower = 102

Rapeseed = 127

Oil Palm = 635

Micro Algae = 5000-15000

Michael Briggs at the Univ. of N. Hampshire Biodiesel group estimates that using open. outdoor, racetrack ponds, only 15,000 square miles could produce enough algae to meet all of the USA's ground transportation needs. Transportation accounts for 67% of US oil consumption according to the Atlantic Monthly, July/August 2005. We'll say more about the 15,000 square mile number below. If all of this land were in one rectangular piece, it would be 120 miles by 125 miles—about 1/7th of the area of the state of Colorado.

. . .
GreenFuel bioreactor in field test

GreenFuel Technologies in Cambridge, MA is field testing a closed system that uses the CO2 in power plant flue gases (13% of flue gases in the test) to feed algae. (3,4) In so doing, it significantly reduced the CO2 concentration in the exhaust

Interesting site and claims.
Cultivating Algae for Liquid Fuel Production

"An ounce of emotion is equal to a ton of facts."
John Junor

[Rev]

Originally Posted by Michaelangelica

Vetiver?
Wouldn't it be more root than anything else and difficult to harvest?
What is the Wallace line pls?

Wallace Line - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
a biological line that separates the australasian componenst from the Asian
mostly..
monkeys on one side - cuscus on the other
its most clearly seen in Bali - Asian, it recently had its own tiger and all
and the next island of Lombok which is Australasian in its fauna and flora

Lecaena is a pesky weed in many places
a very good substitute are the casaurinas for Australasia and the pacific region. They are also uses as vanilla and coffee shade trees in Vietnam

they have been like Leucaena in the highlands of new guinea and have mainatined the soil fertility there enough for people to continue farming it

they fix nitrogen using frankia spp. actinomycetes just like alders (Alnus spp.)
they grow fast, coppice well and make excellent charcoal

Vetiver creates a lot of above ground biomass that is cut back and used as mulch
seeing as its grown in hedges anyway itd be well suited to harvesting mechanically with a slasher , and then being pyrolised
it burns quite well even when not fully dried
my hedges are not a year old, when i take the fisrt cut ill be charring it to see how it goes

my standard so far is Rhodes grass
it makes a great grass char
as do lawn clippings
which im very keen on the idea of as they readily turn to char and come ready pulverised

Napier grass above is the same Bana grass/ elephants grassx pearl millet is was talking about before
very good for a frost free area

i have got in seeds of Pearl millet and Kenaf
pearl millet is interesting as a grain, and becaus of its biomass and because it fixes some of its own nitrogen via association with azospirillium bacteria

Kenaf is a fibre crop that is superior to hemp
Kenaf - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

might as well grow kenaf instead for biomass
and just grow the proper hemp to reward ourselves

[Michaelangelica]

Other similar or relevant hypography threads.

http://hypography.com/forums/earth-s...ure-fuels.html

http://hypography.com/forums/earth-s...light=biofuels

http://hypography.com/forums/news-br...light=biofuels

Burning Forests to Feed Cars: The Ecological Madness of Biofuels

Political Affairs Magazine - Burning Forests to Feed Cars: The Ecological Madness of Biofuels

[Michaelangelica]

Vetiver is used in perfumery too

A diesal tree?

Farmer planning diesel tree biofuel

*

September 19, 2006 - 2:54PM

They say that money doesn't grow on trees, but a Queensland farmer believes fuel does.

Mike Jubow, a nursery wholesaler from Mackay, has begun importing seed from Brazil to plant diesel trees.

The tropical trees, which have the botanic name copaifera langsdorfii, produce a biofuel that can be tapped, filtered and used to power machinery such as tractors.
It is estimated a one hectare plantation could produce 12,000 litres of fuel a year - enough to make a small farm fuel self-sufficient.

Farmer planning diesel tree biofuel - Breaking News - National - Breaking News

WIKI

The tropical rainforest tree Copaifera langsdorffii is known as the diesel tree and kerosene tree. It has many names in local languages, including kupa'y, cabismo, and copaúva. It produces a large amount of terpene hydrocarbons in its wood and leaves. One tree can produce 30 to 40 liters of hydrocarbons per year.

Copaifera langsdorffii - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Medicinal uses too!

Copaiba oil contains a significant amount of kaurenoic acid, a diterpene plant chemical that has shown in laboratory studies to exert anti-inflammatory, hypotensive, and diuretic effects in vivo and antimicrobial, smooth muscle relaxant and cytotoxic actions in vitro.*

Copaiba is also the highest known plant source of another chemical named caryophyllene. Caryophyllene is a well known plant chemical which has been documented in laboratory studies with anti-inflammatory effects (among other actions).*
Many of copaiba's traditional uses and tested biological actions are attributed to these two chemicals. To learn more about this wonderful rainforest plant, go to the Tropical Plant Database file on Copaiba.

Copaiba Oil - Copaifera officinalis - Copaiba Resin - Copaifera langsdorffii - Copaiba oil - Copaiba reticulata

Copaifera langsdorfii

Should do well in Oz bushfires?

See permaculture forums for more links too

[Michaelangelica]

Top 15 Unexpected Uses For Biodiesel : Gas 2.0