... a poem as lovely as a diesel tree (apologies to J. Kilmer):
http://www.smh.com.au/news/National/Farmer-planning-diesel-tree-biofuel/2006/09/19/1158431695812.html
... future home-grown "poetic justice" for OPEC and big-oil ?
From Sydney, Oz: "The tropical trees, which have the botanic name
'copaifera langsdorfii,' produce a biofuel that can be tapped,
filtered and used to power machinery such as tractors."
"It is estimated a one hectare plantation could produce 12,000
litres of fuel a year - enough to make a small farm fuel
self-sufficient."
Unfortunately, it seems that this kind of estimate is often for
the "best year" and not an "average year" ... and who knows how
the diesel tree would pan out over the long haul in the southern
USA, but with "red diesel" now pushing $2 gallon, and few farmers
netting the equivalent of $2,500 per acre (unless the crop is
addictive like tobacco) ...
... well, as Fred observes (being from Pa. farm country) most
farmers would "spend a dollar to save a dime" ... and not just
Amish farmers ... consequently - all one needs to do is make the
diesel tree frost-tolerant, and you will see an explosion of
acreage devoted to them. And ever partial solution to the fuel
crisis is helpful.
Wonder if the understaffed crew at NREL (thanks to Bush's budget
cuts for renewables) is trying to hybridize a frost-tolerant
version?
BTW, for comparison, the heavily-farmed (northern USA) sugar maple
is said to give only 80 liters per acre-year, so one can
appreciate how productive the diesel tree could be comparatively -
at least in certain areas. But to be realistic - hybridizing for
frost-tolerance would probably lower the yield significantly.
