Watch how the corn lobby (Big Agriculture) finds a way to make sure we in the US do not benefits from this amazing discovery
Martin wrote: > > Anything that can wean us off Big Oil is welcome news indeed, Amy. > > Amy1 <[EMAIL PROTECTED] <mailto:aharlib%40earthlink.net>> wrote: > [EMAIL PROTECTED] <mailto:aharlib%40earthlink.net> > Some rare good news. > > > > ---------------------------------------------------------- > > September 9, 2007 > Mali's Farmers Discover a Weed's Potential Power > By LYDIA POLGREEN > KOULIKORO, Mali - When Suleiman Diarra Banani's brother said that the > poisonous black seeds dropping from the seemingly worthless weed that > had grown around his family farm for decades could be used to run a > generator, or even a car, Mr. Banani did not believe him. When he > suggested that they intersperse the plant, until now used as a natural > fence between rows of their regular crops - edible millet, peanuts, > corn and beans - he thought his older brother, Dadjo, was crazy. > > "I thought it was a plant for old ladies to make soap," he said. > > But now that a plant called jatropha is being hailed by scientists and > policy makers as a potentially ideal source of biofuel, a plant that > can grow in marginal soil or beside food crops, that does not require > a lot of fertilizer and yields many times as much biofuel per acre > planted as corn and many other potential biofuels. By planting a row > of jatropha for every seven rows of regular crops, Mr. Banani could > double his income on the field in the first year and lose none of his > usual yield from his field. > > Poor farmers living on a wide band of land on both sides of the > equator are planting it on millions of acres, hoping to turn their > rockiest, most unproductive fields into a biofuel boom. They are > spurred on by big oil companies like BP and the British biofuel giant > D1 Oils, which are investing millions of dollars in jatropha cultivation. > > Countries like India, China, the Philippines and Malaysia are starting > huge plantations, betting that jatropha will help them to become more > energy independent and even export biofuel. It is too soon to say > whether jatropha will be viable as a commercial biofuel, scientists > say, and farmers in India are already expressing frustration that > after being encouraged to plant huge swaths of the bush they have > found no buyers for the seeds. > > But here in Mali, one of the poorest nations on earth, a number of > small-scale projects aimed at solving local problems - the lack of > electricity and rural poverty - are blossoming across the country to > use the existing supply of jatropha to fuel specially modified > generators in villages far off the electrical grid. > > "We are focused on solving our own energy problems and reducing > poverty," said Aboubacar Samaké, director of a government project > aimed at promoting renewable energy. "If it helps the world, that is > good, too." > > Jatropha originated in Central America and is believed to have been > spread around the world by Portuguese explorers. In Mali, a landlocked > former French colony, it has been used for decades by farmers as a > living fence that keeps grazing animals off their fields - the smell > and the taste of the plant repel grazing animals - and a guard against > erosion, keeping rich topsoil from being blown away by the harsh Sahel > winds. The Royal Tropical Institute, a nonprofit research institution > in Amsterdam that has been working to develop jatropha as a commercial > biofuel, estimates that there are 22,000 linear kilometers, or more > than 13,000 miles, of the bush in Mali. > > Jatropha's proponents say it avoids the major pitfalls of other > biofuels, which pose significant environmental and social risks. > Places that struggle to feed their populations, like Mali and the rest > of the arid Sahel region, can scarcely afford to give up cultivable > land for growing biofuel crops. Other potential biofuels, like palm > oil, have encountered resistance by environmentalists because > plantations have encroached on rain forests and other natural habitats. > > But jatropha can grow on virtually barren land with relatively little > rainfall, so it can be planted in places where food does not grow > well. It can also be planted beside other crops farmers grow here, > like millet, peanuts and beans, without substantially reducing the > yield of the fields; it may even help improve output of food crops by, > among other things, preventing erosion and keeping animals out. > > Other biofuels like ethanol from corn and sugar cane require large > amounts of water and fertilizer, and factory farming in some cases > consumes substantial amounts of petroleum, making the environmental > benefits limited, critics say. But jatropha requires no pesticides, > Mr. Samaké said, little water other than rain and no fertilizer beyond > the nutrient-rich seed cake left after oil is pressed from its nuts. > > The plant is promising enough that companies across the world are > looking at planting millions of acres of jatropha in the next few > years, in places as far flung as Brazil, China, India and Swaziland. A > company based in Singapore has announced plans to plant two million > hectares, about 4.9 million acres, of jatropha in the Philippines. > > Here in Mali, a Dutch entrepreneur, Hugo Verkuijl, has started a > company with the backing of investors and assistance from the Dutch > government, to produce biodiesel from jatropha seeds. > > Mr. Verkuijl, 39, an economist who has worked for nonprofit groups, is > part of a new breed of entrepreneurs who are marrying the traditional > aims of aid groups working in Africa with a capitalist ethos they hope > will bring longevity to their efforts. > > "An aid project will live or die by its funders," Mr. Verkuijl said, > but "a business has momentum and a motive to keep going, even if its > founders move on." > > His company, Mali Biocarburant, is partly owned by the farmers who > will grow the nuts, something he said would help the business to > succeed by giving the farmers a stake. > > It takes about four kilograms (about 8.8 pounds) of seeds to make a > liter of oil, and Mr. Verkuijl will sign contracts with farmers to buy > the seeds in bulk. The fuel he produces will cost about the same as > regular diesel, he said - more than $1 a liter, which is about 1.06 > liquid quarts. He will also return the nutrient-rich seed cake, left > after the seeds are pressed for oil, to the farmers to use as > fertilizer. He said he hoped to produce 100,000 liters of biodiesel > this year and 600,000 a year by the third year. > > Even if jatropha proves a success in Mali, it is still not without > risks. If farmers come to see it as more valuable than food crops, > they could cripple the country's food production. > > These kinds of worries led a recent United Nations report on biofuels > to conclude that "the benefits to farmers are not assured, and may > come with increased costs," the report said. "At their worst, biofuel > programs can also result in a concentration of ownership that could > drive the world's poorest farmers off their land and into deeper poverty." > > Home > a.. > Copyright 2007 The New York Times Company > a.. > > > Vote in the National Cheney Impeachment Poll > http://www.usalone.com/blogvoices.php?Cheney%20Impeachment%3F > <http://www.usalone.com/blogvoices.php?Cheney%20Impeachment%3F> > Add this text to your own email and blog signatures! > > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] > > > > > > "There is no reason Good can't triumph over Evil, if only angels will > get organized along the lines of the Mafia." -Kurt Vonnegut, "A Man > Without A Country" > > --------------------------------- > Choose the right car based on your needs. Check out Yahoo! Autos new > Car Finder tool. > > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] > > Yahoo! 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