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New Wonder Weed to Fuel Cars?

Posted by ScuttleMonkey on from the be-a-great-shift-in-the-balance-of-power dept.

Hugh Pickens writes "Jatropha, an ugly, fast-growing and poisonous weed that has been used as a remedy for constipation, may someday power your car. The plant, resilient to pests and resistant to drought, produces seeds with up to 40 per cent oil content that when crushed can be burned in a diesel car while the residue can be processed into biomass for power plants. Although jatropha has been used for decades by farmers in Africa as a living fence because its smell and taste repel grazing animals, the New York Times reports that jatropha may replace biofuels like ethanol that require large amounts of water, fertilizer, and energy, making their environmental benefits limited. Jatropha requires no pesticides, little water other than rain and no fertilizer beyond the nutrient-rich seed cake left after oil is pressed from its nuts. Poor farmers living close to the equator are planting jatropha on millions of acres spurred on by big oil companies like British Petroleum that are investing in jatropha cultivation."

4 of 484 comments (clear)

  1. This could be a problem... by eln · · Score: 5, Insightful

    This is a noxious fast-growing weed, apparently kept in check in its native environment due to the fact that the soil and weather conditions there are terrible for growing anything. However, TFA mentions that various companies are looking at planting this thing all over the place, including areas that have good soil and growth-friendly climates.

    So what happens when we start planting this thing everywhere? Could this turn into the next kudzu?

  2. It'll never happen in the U.S ... by ScrewMaster · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Too many billions in subsidies going into the maw of ethanol production.

    --
    The higher the technology, the sharper that two-edged sword.
  3. Re:Just use hemp. by h2_plus_O · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Using hemp as a fuel source would only further contribute to the growing problem of deforestation, something its proponents conveniently ignore.
    Not necessarily. Hemp farmed for fuel could, once it's been processed for oil, be used as a source of fiber- which is one of the primary reasons we cut down trees today. Why would anybody clear-cut forests if hemp fiber was cheaper?
    Hemp makes better paper with fewer chemical processes than wood pulp. It makes an outstanding fabric, and has been demonstrated to produce excellent building material- and it grows much faster than trees. It's a damn shame we've outlawed it.

    --
    If there's one thing I won't stand for, it's intolerance.
  4. Hemp isn't that useful by Animats · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Funny how the hemp promoters are uninterested in other coarse-fiber crops, like jute, sisal, kenaf, and manila. Or in other low-cost sources of cellulose, like straw, bagasse (sugar cane after sugar extraction), and similar agricultural waste. No, somehow they're attracted only to hemp.