Milkweed is one I remember. Grows pretty well some places. Kirk
-----Original Message----- From: Harmon Seaver [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Tuesday, May 21, 2002 11:46 AM To: biofuel@yahoogroups.com Subject: Re: [biofuel] Re: biofuel at the pumps On Tue, May 21, 2002 at 11:27:27AM -0700, Ken Provost wrote: > Economics get all counter-intuitive when a resource is widely/thinly > distributed -- sunlight is another great example. What's interesting > about vegoil is that it starts out very concentrated and expensive, and > ends up widely distributed but of poor quality. Wouldn't it be nice if > there was a widely distributed oil crop that was of little food use, so > that good quality oil could be had in small quantities anywhere. > Something like acorns, pinenuts, gopher plant, or perhaps a weed we're > not paying attention to. And I don't mean jatropha, or jojoba, or cuphea, > or anything you have to PLANT -- then it just becomes another agribusiness. > I mean an already existing weed. Any ideas? Not for oil, but cattails for ethanol certainly fits that bill. In fact, locally I'm currently half-heartedly investigating a couple of different cattail control programs -- really big areas, hundreds, maybe thousands of acres, that the DNR and other people are looking at to restore to a more diverse habitat. Their plan is to drain the areas and try to burn the cattails. I'd think if they drain it enough, going in with big 4WD tractors w/double tires pulling a potato digger it might both serve their purposes and create a fantastic harvest of ethanol feedstock, plus biomass (the tops) for gasification. I say half-heartedly only because I'm just in no position financially to do anything with it, although with the new ethanol plant being built within a few miles of one huge cattail marsh they want to clear, it would seem an easy market. -- Harmon Seaver CyberShamanix http://www.cybershamanix.com Biofuel at Journey to Forever: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Biofuels list archives: http://archive.nnytech.net/ Please do NOT send "unsubscribe" messages to the list address. To unsubscribe, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/ --- Incoming mail is certified Virus Free. Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com). Version: 6.0.363 / Virus Database: 201 - Release Date: 5/21/2002 --- Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free. Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com). Version: 6.0.363 / Virus Database: 201 - Release Date: 5/21/2002 ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ---------------------~--> Buy Stock for $4 and no minimums. FREE Money 2002. http://us.click.yahoo.com/orkH0C/n97DAA/Ey.GAA/FGYolB/TM ---------------------------------------------------------------------~-> Biofuel at Journey to Forever: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Biofuels list archives: http://archive.nnytech.net/ Please do NOT send "unsubscribe" messages to the list address. To unsubscribe, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/