Posted on 10/27/2011 11:20:34 AM PDT by bridgemanusa
Could dead wood be the answer to the world's energy problems? Scientists at the University of Maine have invented a simple two-step way to turn wood and even garbage into fuel, that could power your car and heat your home.
(Excerpt) Read more at reuters.com ...
There was a cellulose plant built in Ga but I heard it shut down but it was an alcohol plant, in the video they make 82 octane gas. Cost effective is the key, only two step process, not one used before was mentioned not the cost.
If this would finally give people a reason to kill kudzu in industrial-sized lots, I’d be all for it! There are parts of ‘bama that have completely disappeared because of kudzu.
Great ! I’ve always looked “forward” to reverting to a 1930’s era technology !! >PS
Hey you forgot Algore please don’t forget Algore.
Maybe that’s what they have in mind for us. No sense in letting a good body go to waste.
You could find that Kudzu would be desirable if it could become a cash crop. Seems many receiving $$$ on public assistance could manage to harvest Kudzu to earn their benefits.
Another option....
And all these years I’ve been trying to turn LIVE wood into fuel without killing it! I never thought to kill it first.
Oh, yeah! I put about 50 pounds of sawdust into my gas tank each time just before I fill it up. Hardwoods give better mileage, but pine smells best. At Christmas time I switch over to pine needles. Mmm, mmm!
“Seems many receiving $$$ on public assistance could manage to harvest Kudzu to earn their benefits.”
Don’t be daft. These people are so damn lazy, down South you gotta arrest ‘em, throw ‘em in the pen, and then you can finally send ‘em out in a chain gang to do any work. It’s coming in handy though.....replacing all those illegals that headed elsewhere.
Boy was I sleepy when I wrote that. I meant to write Orange Peal waste from juice production.
Kudzu is used as a valuable plant in Japan. The starch in the root is of fine quality and can be used for cooking and desserts. Rather like arrowroot or cornstarch, but I think more nutritious. Last time I looked a 1/2 lb. package of kudzu starch was over $5 at Whole Foods. The vines have a fiber that can be used for textile purposes. I have a booklet somewhere?? that has a lot of information on Kudzu, but I imagine you can find good information on Google. For the fibers I think they recommended rolling up long vines in open loops like a grape vine wreath, then put it in water for a few weeks until the outer vegetation rots off leaving the inner fiber. Then there are some ways to process the remaining fiber, but I forget what they were. At any rate if someone has access to a lot of Kudzu, they ought to look into some of these commercial uses.
See my Comment #73 for some constructive uses for Kudzu.
I love that Christmas smell, and it’s especially soothing when the smell gets really strong while you’re stuck in rush hour. :-D
If this conversion of any cellulose source to oil proves to be viable, we would have to be brain dead to ignore Kudzu.
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