Regarding jatropha's disadvantage that the seedcake is toxic to livestock, Dr Karve of ARTI in India said this:
"One kg meal of Jatropha seed (or of any other oilseed) will give you one kg biogas, of which 250 g would be methane." Typical jatropha yield in India = 1 tonne/ha of seed (yielding 300-400 kg of oil) Biogas yield = 1 kg meal - > 1 kg biogas containing 250 g methane Useful, but maybe not as useful as livestock feed. On the other hand, livestock should be eating off the land, whether grazing or foraging, not living on concentrates like oilseed cake. It should only be used as a supplement. Peanut meal or sunflower seed meal and so on are fine, but not all edible oils might yield an equally edible oilseed cake for livestock feed. Here's what Biodynamic farmer Trauger Groh, founder of the CSA movement in the US, says about soy, for instance: "Soy Meal for Cows -- I have followed for many years the sickening effect of soy on ruminants. Cows that formerly could easily reach the age of 15 years and have 12 calves have on average now less than three calves and reach hardly the age of six. One main reason is the high percentage of soy in the rations. It works into the buildup of ammonia in the rumen. This affects negatively the liver and then showsup in mastitis and sterility. Off they go to the butcher. Only there can a vet identify the defective livers. The soybean, bringing about high milk yields in the first two lactations, is the curse of our cattle herds. And the milk achieved through it is not health promoting either. . . " http://www.realmilk.com/soy.html This fits in with other research findings on soy, some of them to be found here: http://www.westonaprice.org/ Weston A. Price Foundation I've always wondered about the rationale of WVO, condemned for human consumption because of the FFAs and so on, classified by the US EPA as a hazardous waste, being recycled as feed to raise livestock for human consumption. But soy and WVO look like ambrosia compared with some of the other stuff you get in livestock feed. This is from a recent study of livestock feed in the US: "Findings emphasize that current animal feeding practices can result in the presence of bacteria, antibiotic-resistant bacteria, prions, arsenicals, and dioxins in feed and animal-based food products [also mycotoxins]. Despite a range of potential human health impacts that could ensue, there are significant data gaps that prevent comprehensive assessments of human health risks associated with animal feed. Limited data are collected at the federal or state level concerning the amounts of specific ingredients used in animal feed, and there are insufficient surveillance systems to monitor etiologic agents ìfrom farm to fork." -- "What Do We Feed to Food-Production Animals? A Review of Animal Feed Ingredients and Their Potential Impacts on Human Health", Amy R. Sapkota, Lisa Y. Lefferts, et al, Environmental Health Perspectives, 115 No 5, May 2007 http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/picrender.fcgi?artid=1867957&blobtype=pdf Nightmare. Other countries aren't that different, it's a global industry. Here's a list of ingredients from the report: Table 1. Animal feed ingredients that are legally used in U.S. animal feeds. Origin, raw material Examples Plant Forage Alfalfa meal and hay, Bermuda coastal grass hay, corn plant, and soybean hay Grains Barley, corn (organic and genetically modified), oats, rice, sorghum, and wheat Plant protein products Canola meal, cottonseed cakes and meals, peanut meal, safflower meal, and soybean (organic and genetically modified) feed and meal Processed grain by-products Distillers products, brewers dried grains, corn gluten, sorghum germ cake and meal, peanut skins, and wheat bran Fruit and fruit by-products Dried citrus pulp, apple pomace, and pectin pulp Molasses Beet, citrus, starch, and cane molasses Miscellaneous Almond hulls and ground shells, buckwheat hulls, legumes and their by-products, and other crop by-products Animal Rendered animal protein from the slaughter of food production animals and other animals Meat meal, meat meal tankage, meat and bone meal, poultry meal, animal by-product meal, dried animal blood, blood meal, feather meal, egg-shell meal, hydrolyzed whole poultry, hydrolyzed hair, bone marrow, and animal digest from dead, dying, diseased, or disabled animals including deer and elk Animal waste Dried ruminant waste, dried swine waste, dried poultry litter, and undried processed animal waste products Marine by-products Fish meal, fish residue meal, crab meal, shrimp meal, fish oil, fish liver and glandular meal, and fish by-products Dairy products Dried cow milk, casein, whey products, and dried cheese Mixed Fats and oils Animal fat, vegetable fat or oil, and hydrolyzed fats Restaurant food waste Edible food waste from restaurants, bakeries, and cafeterias Contaminated/adulterated food Food adulterated with rodent, roach, or bird excreta that has been heat treated to destroy pathogenic organisms Other Antibiotics Tetracyclines, macrolides, fluoroquinolones, and streptogramins By-products of drug manufacture Spent mycelium and fermentation products Arsenicals Roxarsone and arsanilic acid Other metal compounds Copper compounds and metal amino acid complexes Nonprotein nitrogen Urea, ammonium chloride, and ammonium sulfate Minerals Bone charcoal, calcium carbonate, chalk rock, iron salts, magnesium salts, and oyster shell flour Vitamins Vitamins A, D, B12, E, niacin, and betaine Direct-fed organisms Aspergillis niger, Bacillus subtilis, Bifidobacterium animalis, Enterococcus faecium, and yeast Flavors Aloe vera gel concentrate, ginger, capsicum, and fennel Enzymes Phytase, cellulase, lactase, lipase, pepsin, and catalase Additives generally regarded as safe (GRAS) Acetic acid, sulfuric acid, aluminum salts, dextrans, glycerin, beeswax, sorbitol, and riboflavin Preservatives Butylated hydroxyanisole (BHA) and sodium bisulfite Nutraceuticals Herbal and botanical products Plastics Polyethylene roughage replacement Data adapted from AAFCO (2004). When we talk of using the oilseed cake after the oils's been pressed out as livestock feed, what that's most often going to mean is an ingredient in the sort of horror brew above, destined for CAFOs, Confined Animal Feeding Operations - factory farms. Best Keith _______________________________________________ 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/
