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| Science & Technology |
| Camelina might make biodiesel in the western Great Plains |
| 2008-09-16 |
| GRAND FORKS, N.D. - When considering biodiesel production, camelina ap-pears to be an excellent crop, according to information presented at the recent Bio-Mass '08 Technical Workshop in Grand Forks. In recent months biodiesel production has decreased in the U.S. because of high prices for soybean and canola oil, the two main oils currently used in biodiesel processing, since the oil from both of these seeds is in high demand in the food industry. ------------------ Lots of empty space in ND, SD, NB, etc because the precip is under 15"/year; however, Camelina only needs about 10"/year. Still a long way from happening however- needs improved subspecies and specialized extraction process development. |
| Posted by:mhw |
| #10 What about switchgrass? |
| Posted by: badanov 2008-09-16 22:22 |
| #9 I guess I'm not gonna tell ya about the kudzu apes. |
| Posted by: Abdominal Snowman 2008-09-16 21:46 |
| #8 "The roots, on the other hand, are an excellant source of starch and are quite good." I do NOT want to know how you know that, Deacon. |
| Posted by: Barbara Skolaut 2008-09-16 21:28 |
| #7 Kudzu is deceptive. When you drive down a road and there is kudzu it looks like there is a lot. Kudzu is actually a vine with large leaves that overlap blocking out the sun and preventing anything else from growing. If you ever have to clean out kudzu you will find there is not a lot of mass there. The vines are relatively far apart and quite small. The land required to grow it is quite large for the ammount of mass you would get. The roots, on the other hand, are an excellant source of starch and are quite good. |
| Posted by: Deacon Blues 2008-09-16 21:16 |
| #6 Got a question for the more scientific types here. Why not use kudzu? It grows like crazy and I'm sure there's plenty of places down South that would love to be rid of it. Or is it worthless for that purpose for some reason? |
| Posted by: Cornsilk Blondie, formerly known as Swamp Blondie 2008-09-16 17:50 |
| #5 The problem with most articles on biodiesel is they talk about competing with the food industry for the oil instead of using the oil after the food industry is done with it (which is how the grassroots biodiesel deal with the problem). |
| Posted by: rjschwarz 2008-09-16 17:26 |
| #4 I looked at the article and then did a cursory search for biodiesel miles per gallon. The performance for some previous blends seems to be OK. Therefore it seems cost is the primary factor. One of my gripes with gasohol is that with 10% alcohol you lose about 10% mpg and it costs more to boot. Nice. You use 10% more to go the same distance, for more money. We won't go into what it does to small, high performance engines; especially those not used on a regular basis. |
| Posted by: tipover 2008-09-16 13:29 |
| #3 Funny, I thought camelina was some kind of camel shaped pasta... |
| Posted by: M. Murcek 2008-09-16 12:10 |
| #2 Biodiesel from tiny camels...interesting. |
| Posted by: Grunter 2008-09-16 09:11 |
| #1 I can make biodesilin may garage using a glass-lined water heater and a few other bits of neat stuff. |
| Posted by: Deacon Blues 2008-09-16 08:47 |