Cleveland, Tennessee Based Kudzu Ethanol Preparing For Production

WDEF ^ | Jul 7, 2008 | Joe Legge

[decimon]

Could an annoying plant hold the key to reducing our dependence on foreign oil?

A Cleveland, Tennessee man who knows how to make ethanol out of kudzu may soon bring his refining process to market.

This time next year, the gas you fill-up with in Chattanooga may be cheaper than other parts of the country. Tom Monahan with Agro*Gas says Chattanooga will be number one and then it will spread out from there.

In the basement of a Cleveland, Tennessee home, Doug Mizell's experiment in energy appears to be taking off. He's found a way to turn kudzu into fuel. Mizell says "if it blows a good blue flame like that, that means there's purity there."

Mizell's spent the last decade perfecting a process to refine kudzu into commercially viable ethanol. Monahan says "cellulosic which is the way we're going, is from plant refuge, we basically can use anything that grew and convert it into ethanol."

And since this ethanol isn't corn or soy based, it won't impact food prices. It takes 10 to 15 pounds of plant material to make a gallon of fuel, at a cost of about $1.30.

Next step, producing this product for market. Monahan says "we're looking for funding to build our first small plant, what you'd call a demonstration plant to help prove to our major investors that it works."

Monahan says a major fuel distributor wants to purchase two-thirds of their first year's production to cut into gas sold throughout the Tennessee Valley. "The distributor we're talking to just wants to get it out there at 10% in all gas.

Mizell "wants that savings reflected at the pump too so that the consumer gets the benefit of that."

He says if that initial refinery plant proves successful, he'll build additional plants across the southeast every six-months. "My goal is to make East TN the cellulosic valley of the entire industry."

[Proverbs 3-5]

Kudzu. God’s own curse on the south.

I agree it's nearly impossible to control however, you know what they say, when life hands you a lemon make lemonade

There is research going on regarding it's possible cancer fighting properties and other health benefits.

Also you can eat it kudzurecipes.html

[CORedneck]

Kudzu, a gift that keeps on giving !

[decimon]

Kudzu, a gift that keeps on giving !

Gaia's herpes.

[count-your-change]

Why so? Seriously, why do you think so?

[barb-tex]

How long will it take to be commercial? We have been cursed by Kudzu for years with no relief. TG I live in Texas with no K.
How is it harvested? Do we train Monkeys to pull it down from the trees? Driving through the South, it seems to be an inexhaustible supply But replace Oil? Maybe Jed Clampett should have shot at the Kudzu.
barbra ann

[WilliamReading]

Kudzu leaves are also very tasty, and can replace spinach in your daily salad.

[Glenn]

Seriously, why do you think so?

You can't be omnipotent and shirk the responsibility. Seriously.

[count-your-change]

Omnipotence means God should intervene and prevent those ignore His rules from getting AIDS?
Or prevent storm damage when someone chooses to build where violent weather is common?
Who is shirking responsibility?
Even with an omnipotent God we can have our own views.

[decimon]

Driving through the South, it seems to be an inexhaustible supply But replace Oil?

It wouldn't have to replace oil to make me happy. Just enough to reduce the demand for oil would be nice.

[Glenn]

Omnipotence means God should intervene and prevent those ignore His rules from getting AIDS?

Does that hold for the innocents as well?

My theory is this:

God set it up and is watching it play out in a most disinterested fashion. The big question is, Will we survive the game?

If this one doesn't work out, he can always release version 2.0.

[count-your-change]

“Does that hold for the innocents as well?”
To the degree that offense is once removed. Yes. I seem to recall blood products contaminated with HIV being sent to Canada that originated in Arkansas’ prison system. The criminal indifference of those responsible, not God, harmed the innocent.

[Glenn]

harmed the innocent

I'm talking about the children of the infected. Do you think God gets a pass on that?

[Figment]

“If kudzuhol is viable then there’s no need to choose between it and oil”

You’d be choosing between corn,soybeans and kudzu.Ethanol is a loser no matter what you make it from. If it weren’t for your tax dollars the only thing it would be used for is whiskey

[Figment]

“do plants grow like this because of the radiation????”

That's hilarious. I've wondered what kudzu would look like in the redwood forests of California. Can you imagine that stuff on a 300 foot tree?

[Conservativegreatgrandma]

Kudzu will require no fertilizer or energy to plant. Harvesting may be more of a challenge.

[count-your-change]

You mean if I do wrong God should intervene and prevent any harm coming to my children?

[Glenn]

You mean if I do wrong God should intervene and prevent any harm coming to my children?

Yes.

[Figment]

“Kudzu can be beneficial in preventing erosion”

Kudzu isn’t worth a damn at preventing erosion. The ground under it dissolves and it grows ever stronger. One story is that it was imported for anti erosion purposes, if that’s the case it was a failure

[stainlessbanner]

Dixie Ping

Southern ingenuity: finally a solution for kudzu

[stainlessbanner]

Chattanooga using goats to fight kudzu

Sunday, August 20, 2006 10:22:16 AM · by SmithL · 31 replies · 951+ views

AP ^ | 8/20/6

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (AP) - Chattanooga city officials say they plan to use a herd of goats as a more environmentally friendly way of curbing the invasive weed kudzu. Maurice Beavers, who owns a goat farm in Lakesite, will provide the city with 30 to 50 goats for about $1,800 a month to eat the kudzu starting in September, said Public Works Deputy Administrator Lee Norris. "Goats like kudzu. The only way you can kill kudzu is eat it back to where the root comes from," said Norris, adding that the goats are an environmentally friendly way to deal with the...

• As kudzu takes invades the South, one town makes peace with it

  Tuesday, December 03, 2002 9:54:55 AM · by stainlessbanner · 56 replies · 1,645+ views

  Chicago Tribune ^ | Nov. 19, 2002 | DAHLEEN GLANTON

  DAHLONEGA, Ga. (KRT) - This quaint little town on the edge of the Blue Ridge Mountains is known for its sparkling waterfalls, its showcase of colorful fall leaves and its sweeping display of weeds, or kudzu, that drape over trees to form a landscape of towering green statues.In much of the South, kudzu - a stubborn and fast growing vine from Asia that covers up to 7 million acres from Florida to Texas - is known as "the green menace."But people who live in the mountains have embraced it as part of the Appalachian culture, holding yearly festivals, using its...