Posted on 11/01/2006 10:39:51 AM PST by Red Badger
Yes, it is useful for cabinet making, so it probably has a pretty grain.........
The Chinese tallow tree is potentially the best source of plant oil for biodiesel since it is large, very robust, and very fast growing. Moreover, it is extremely fertile and will quickly take over a tract of land with no assistance from the cultivator. But these strengths are also its drawbacks. The tallow tree is considered extremely invasive, and has already become a scourge in a number of Southern States. Many local governments are attempting, unsuccessfully, to exterminate it, and would scarcely welcome enormous plantations of the trees whose seeds could be dispersed far and wide by birds. We are frankly uncertain as to the near and midterm prospects of the tallow tree, and, in any case, we see methyl ester biodiesel as ultimately losing ground to other alternative fuels, and thus the prospects of a cheap though problematic source of plant oil diminishing.
Kudzu can stand the competition!
It appears that the CTT is another of the plants you chop up & distill, rather than tap like maple syrup the way you do these diesel trees. I'm not sure I'd want to put the product of that tap directly into a Volvo, at least not a Volvo *I* owned, but I'll see if I can find some diesel-tree seeds and then go from there.
Australia suffered a horrible wheat season this year, from an expected 19M to an actual 11m ton year because of drought. The 11m covers domestic consumption and leaves less than 2M for export. So from ~10M to ~2M for export, the wheat industry is getting crushed in AU.
"Grain for ethanol" is a fiasco in Australia's food security view.
>>>"Grain for ethanol" is a fiasco in Australia's food security view.
Ethanol is NOT a food OR fuel proposition - it's food AND fuel. There are plenty of viable products that come from the process of extracting ethanol from grains like corn - many of which are ingredients in food, or used as feed for animals.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.