>there are two questions that i have: >the first one is. can pumpkins be used to make a biofuel? And if so >does someone have a recipe? >The other is. Is it cost effective to make your own personal fuel >providing you have the mechanical ability to construct the equipement? >If anyone has the the answer to any of these questions please let me >know. thanks in advance. > scott
Hi Scott Pumpkin flesh can contain up to 14% sugar, if they're well grown in good soil - minimum about 6%, but that's a really bad pumpkin. Also, I know you're talking about alcohol, but the seeds are a good source of oil. Cucurbit Seed As Possible Oil & Protein Sources By Dr. Franklin W. Martin "After the hull is removed, cucurbit seeds contain about 50 percent oil and up to 35 percent proteins. Most of their oil is made up of non-saturated fatty acids, thus of high nutritional values. Conjugated fatty acids among some cucurbit oils make them highly useful as drying oils. [I.e. they combine readily with oxygen to form an elastic, waterproof film. Ed.] The proteins, on the other hand, are principally of the globulin type, and are deficient in lysine but also in sulfur-bearing amino acid. Protein efficiency ratios of about 30 to 70 (that of powdered skim milk is 80) have been measured. The PER improves with addition of lysine. The uses of cucurbit seeds for their high protein and oil content have many precedents..." http://www.echonet.org/tropicalag/technotes/Cucurbit.PDF It's hard to give a general answer to your second question, it depends on a great many variables. David mentioned the energy supply, others are the cost of inputs (anything from zero up), the scale, etc. Nonetheless, the answer seems to be "Yes", since a lot of people seem to do it. Best wishes Keith Addison Journey to Forever Handmade Projects Tokyo http://journeytoforever.org/ Biofuel at Journey to Forever: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html To unsubscribe, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
