Farmers turn tobacco into jet fuelPublished: Thursday, July 7, 2016 As demand for tobacco goes down, farmers have had to adapt to stay in business. And some are finding a new use for the crop as aviation biofuel.
Robert Mills of Briar View Farms in Callands, Va., hopes the shift will help him turn a profit. "With the uncertainty of tobacco, growers are always looking for new opportunities," he said. For over six years, Tyton BioEnergy Systems has partnered with tobacco growers and agronomists from Virginia Tech and North Carolina State University to research and better understand the potential for converting tobacco into fuel. Mills contracts with this agency for the 2 acres of tobacco he grows for biofuel. "There is a lot of land not being used in tobacco regions that isn't good for growing row crops," said Tyton co-founder Peter Majeranowski. "Instead of growing low-value crops like hay, farmers can earn more revenue per acre growing 'energy tobacco'" (Jodi Helmer, London *Guardian* <https://www.theguardian.com/sustainable-business/2016/jul/06/us-farmers-turning-tobacco-into-airplane-fuel-biofuels-renewables>, July 6). *-- CS* _______________________________________ http://www.okiebenz.com To search list archives http://www.okiebenz.com/archive/ To Unsubscribe or change delivery options go to: http://mail.okiebenz.com/mailman/listinfo/mercedes_okiebenz.com
