>I'm thinking castor beans are pretty hard to beat and especially if >you want to make ethyl esters you are better off with castor oil due >to the soluability of ethanol in that oil. Of course the ricin >might get you some unwanted attention. Darn there I go putting >keywords in emails again. Me bad. slap slap. > >LOL
:-) No problem if you compost the cake. (It's not yellow, is it, the cake?) (And is your compost Bin Laden with nice organic compostibles?) Trouble with castor oil for biodiesel is the high viscosity, exceeds all standards specs. Pannir said the problem could be solved but didn't say how. Maybe by using ethanol as an additive? But I think that wouldn't fit the standards specs either. Still no "best crop" though, it depends in the circumstances. And yield might not be the only consideration. Best Keith >Joe > >Keith Addison wrote: > >>>You should plant only heirloom varieties of ANY plant. BTW seeds >>>should sprout easily given the right conditions otherwise nature >>>would not have produced them or rather they would not have survived >>>over time. This difficulty should be warning you of something. >>> >>>Joe >>> >>> >> >>Indeed so. >> >>Anyway, jatropha shmatropha - there is no "best crop", it's a >>misguided approach, and despite the rosy glow that surrounds it (as >>well as biodiesel from algae and ethanol from cellulose), there are >>some serious disadvantages with jatropha. I'm not sure of the >>advantages of trying to grow a crop in a place that's outside its >>ecological and climatic range when there are surely alternatives >>within the local range that would be at least as good. What's best is >>what fits best. >> >>Best >> >>Keith >> >> >> >> >>>James Quaid wrote: >>> >>> >>> >>>>Keith, >>>> >>>>I'm doing a Jatropha cultivation experiment in AZ. It survived the >>>>115F. But the 24F killed a 1/3 of my test planting. It is very >>>>sensitive to a hard freeze. And according to what I've read, >>>>standard breeds will produce 300 gal/ acre 600 gal/acre if it >>>>blooms twice. Jatropha originally from Central America. I'd be >>>>very interested to see what the GMO stuff does especially in cold >>>>climes. >>>> >>>>I'm having a heckuva time sprouting seedlings. The current batch >>>>of seeds I have is from Suriname. We will be doing an acre test >>>>planting on a farm with saline wells. Jatropha can allegedly >>>>handle salt pretty well. >>>> >>>>Here's what the Germans are doing with it: >>>><http://www.d1plc.com><http://www.d1plc.com><http://www.d1plc.com> >>>><http://www.d1plc.com> >>>> >>>>Regards, >>>>JQ >>>> >>>>Keith Addison wrote: >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>>><http://www.orlandosentinel.com/orl-biodiesel1707apr17,0,4223949. >>>>>story><http://www.orlandosentinel.com/orl-biodiesel1707apr17,0,4223949 >>>>>.st >>>>>ory><http://www.orlandosentinel.com/orl-biodiesel1707apr17,0,4223 >>>>>949.st>http://www.orlandosentinel.com/orl-biodiesel1707apr17,0,4223949 >>>>>.st >>>>>ory? >>>>>track=mostemailedlink >>>>>'Farming our fuel' >>>>>Officials from a local company will tout the jatropha plant today in >>>>>Tallahassee. "We're doing things right here in Orlando that are going >>>>>to change America." >>>>> >>>>>Rich Mckay | Sentinel Staff Writer >>>>>Posted April 17, 2007 >>>>> >>>>>ABOUT BIODIESEL >>>>>What is it? >>>>>Biodiesel is a fuel made from rendered vegetable oils or animal fats >>>>>refined through a chemical reaction with an alcohol. >>>>>What can be used to make it? >>>>>Soybean oil is used to make most of the biodiesel in the U.S. >>>>>Restaurant grease or any vegetable oil such as corn, canola, >>>>>cottonseed, mustard oil also can be used. Jatropha oil is widely used >>>>>in India and Asia. Other companies are developing ways to make >>>>>biodiesel out of algae, restaurant scraps and even animal carcasses. >>>>>Why bother? >>>>>Biodiesel is considered an alternative to petroleum diesel because it >>>>>can be grown, rather than pumped from a well. It is also considered a >>>>>neutral gas. It doesn't put back into the atmosphere anything it >>>>>didn't absorb when it was part of the environment. >>>>>Is it as powerful as diesel? >>>>>It is considered to have the same power as petroleum diesel. >>>>>What engines can use it? >>>>>It can be mixed with petroleum diesel and used in unmodified diesel >>>>>engines. Engines can be modified to run 100 percent on biodiesel. >>>>>What does biodiesel smell like? >>>>>That depends its source. Some say it smells like french fries. >>>>>Biodiesel made from jatropha doesn't have a strong odor. >>>>>SOURCE: Sentinel research >>>>> >>>>>America, meet your next tank of gas -- made from superpowered seeds. >>>>> >>>>>A couple of Orlando entrepreneurs say that a Malaysian variety newly >>>>>approved for U.S. import could help solve America's energy woes and >>>>>boost Central Florida's economy with a new cash crop. >>>>> >>>>>State Agriculture Commissioner Charles Bronson, along with executives >>>>> >>>>> >>>> >from the Orlando-based Xenerga Inc., are scheduled to introduce a >>>> >>>> >>>>>patented version of the jatropha plant today in Tallahassee. >>>>> >>>>>"We're doing things right here in Orlando that are going to change >>>>>America," said Dave Jarrett, a company spokesman. "Just wait and see." >>>>> >>>>>The oil pressed from the jatropha nut can be used to make biodiesel, >>>>>producing six to eight times the amount of energy extracted from >>>>>soybeans -- the most common crop used for biodiesel in the U.S. >>>>> >>>>>Xenerga president Jason Sayers and his business partner Victor Clewes >>>>>have the exclusive patent on the high-octane version of the plant >>>>>with seeds that grow inside bunches of fat green pods the size of >>>>>peach pits. >>>>> >>>>>It can produce 1,600 gallons of biodiesel per acre, compared with >>>>>soy's 200 gallons, Sayers said. >>>>> >>>>>A Lake Wales farmer is ready to grow 5,000 acres of the genetically >>>>>enhanced jatropha, Jarrett said. And unlike soy, which takes lots of >>>>>tending, fertilizer and water, the jatropha plant can grow happily in >>>>>arid soil, with little water and almost no tending. >>>>> >>>>>"Think of it as farming our fuel," Sayers said. >>>>> >>>>>President Bush mandated that refineries should have renewable fuels >>>>>blended into 7.5 billion gallons of the nation's fuel supply by 2012. >>>>> >>>>>Only about 75 million gallons of biodiesel were sold in the U.S. last >>>>>year, compared with about 6 billion gallons of petroleum diesel, >>>>>according to the National Biodiesel Board, a trade organization. >>>>> >>>>>"Biodiesel is huge in Europe and Asia," Sayers said. "America is just >>>>>now catching up." >>>>> >>>>>So Sayers and his associates are also launching a venture with >>>>>Xenerga that will sell prefabricated mom-and-pop biodiesel refineries >>>>>for about $2 million. >>>>> >>>>>Their plan is to sell turnkey operations, manufactured in Germany and >>>>>shipped here, and promise a steady supply of raw materials and >>>>>customers. They have contracts to build about 16 of the refineries. >>>>>Each refinery, if running at capacity, can produce 5 million gallons >>>>>of biodiesel a year. Jarrett said they already have a slew of >>>>>inquiries and expect to have 100 refineries throughout the country up >>>>>and running in 18 months. >>>>> >>>>>Besides the jatropha nut, his other sources will include a plentiful >>>>>supply of restaurant grease. Through Sayers' other business, >>>>>FiltaFry, which cleans restaurant fryers, he spotted a potential >>>>>energy source in leftover grease. >>>>> >>>>>The National Biodiesel Board said the industry is growing fast, with >>>>>about 90 plants operating now and another 60 under construction. >>>>> >>>>>While Xenerga won't have its first plant, in Kissimmee, up and >>>>>running for two more months, Silver Bullet Energy has a small plant >>>>>in Groveland that started making biodiesel this year out of grease >>>>>extracted from sewage. >>>>> >>>>>Another company, Southeast BioDiesel, plans to make about 6 million >>>>>gallons of fuel a year from restaurant grease or soybean oil. It >>>>>expects to be up and running in Sanford this summer. >>>>> >>>>>And MetroWest developer and entrepreneur Kevin Azzouz said he's >>>>>getting into the business with a company called Clean Fuel. He >>>>>envisions using restaurant grease at a plant in Orange County that >>>>>would create about 400 jobs. >>>>> >>>>>Azzouz already made the rounds to potential customers, including >>>>>Orange County Public Schools, which runs 1,000 buses each school day >>>>>using a total of 14,000 gallons of diesel. >>>>> >>>>>"We buy our diesel by the tanker-truck load," said Arby Creach, a >>>>>transportation manager for Orange County schools. >>>>> >>>>>School Board member Karen Ardaman said that biodiesel is promising, >>>>>especially if produced locally. >>>>> >>>>>"If it's cost-effective, hopefully it would help us stretch our >>>>>dollars," she said. >>>>> >>>>>Rich McKay can be reached at >>>>><mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]><mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] >>>>>.com><mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]>[EMAIL PROTECTED] or >>>>>407-420-5470. _______________________________________________ Biofuel mailing list Biofuel@sustainablelists.org http://sustainablelists.org/mailman/listinfo/biofuel_sustainablelists.org Biofuel at Journey to Forever: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Search the combined Biofuel and Biofuels-biz list archives (50,000 messages): http://www.mail-archive.com/biofuel@sustainablelists.org/
