Had you looked a little closer, Jones, Ricinus communis (Castor bean "trees") grow quite well in temperate climates. I grew one in my "gopher war" years. Beware of the Ricin byproduct though.
http://www.hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/duke_energy/Jatropha_curcas.html "Ricinus communis 35 MT/hectare 1,2002,000 Liters/Hectare 11,30018,900 kwh/hectare" "Jatropha curcas 68 MT/hectare 2,1002,800 Liters/hectare 19,80026,400 kwh/hectare" Fred Jones Beene wrote. > > Fred, > > Apparently this is a tall shrub or small tree - with lots of nuts > used for fuel and medicine in Africa and Asia. Said to cure both > cancer and hemmoroids <g> so if you plant an acre of it - and it > doesn't work out for powering your car - hey, you set up a small > patent-medicine business <g> or save a bundle on "Preparation H" > <g> > > Curiously - the common name is "Physic nut" which might make it > perfect for Vortex > > Getting a little more serious - "According to Gaydou et al (1982), > seed yields approach 6-8 MT (metric tonnes)/ha with ca 37% oil. > They calculate that such yields could produce the equivalent of > 2,100-2,800 liters fuel oil/ha . > > OK that would be about 200 gallons per acre - mas o menos - which > is about what would be needed per year per automobile for the > average in the USA (15,000 miles/yr) - which is calculated based > on proven results of the hybrid-diesel with HydroBooster (onboard > hydrogen generator). Adding even small amounts of hydrogen to > diesel combustion seems to be especially synergetic. > > Unfortunately - this shrub is probably not frost-tolerant - now. > > If some dedicated biochemist got to work on bioenegineering it > however - how knows? A brief googling for 'Frost tolerance' > indicates that the plant genes for this have been identified - so > perhaps bioengineering it is not too far removed from > practicality? > > Jones
