The Wild 'Green' Yonder

In July of last year, I wrote about an exciting new source of biofuel, the Jatropha plant (See Full Story). The jatropha is an especially hardy, drought-tolerant plant that produces large quantities of oil that can be refined into a good quality diesel-like biofuel. Further refining can even produce lighter fuels like jet fuel.

Similarly, I reported in December on a form of algae that produces enough oil in its cells to have it extracted as a biofuel (See Full Story). The algae is so efficient that it uses as much or more carbon dioxide in its growth than it does when used as fuel --- making it a net zero carbon footprint product. (That should really make the likes of Al Gore exceptionally happy!)

Now, I can report that these two forms of biofuel are being tested on anairliner. In the good ole' U.S. of A, in the State of Texas, they are testing both jatropha and the green algae on a Boeing 737 (See Full Story). Previously, in New Zealand, jatropha was tested with a 50 percent blend of regular jet fuel on a Boeing 747. In both cases, the tests are being conducted with Boeing as a joint venture.

Jatropha can be an important crop in this country without infringing on our food production as in the case of ethanol and corn. Jatropha can be grown in what was previously unusable or barely usable scrub lands throughout this country. Further, massive water supplies aren't needed. On the other hand, the algae production can be co-located with coal power plants so that the carbon dioxide output of the coal (of natural gas plants) can be used to pump through tubs of algae in order to generate growth. Eventually, algae power plants could be somewhat self-sustaining with the algae based power production facilities working in concert with co-located algae growth and harvesting facilities.

I just thought you'd like to know.

Image by Simon Lieschke's photostream on Flickr with Creative Commons Licensing of remix/adapt/modify permission (Click to View Other Works). Specifically modified by Cranky George for this blog entry

Is Jatropha in our Energy Future?

Trucks use diesel fuel because the density of diesel and its subsequent power output is greater than gasoline. In a nutshell, a diesel engine is better suited to "hauling" heavy loads.

Ethanol doesn't really do anything for diesel trucks and cars. Ethanol is also driving fuel prices up as food crops are diverted to make energy. And, diesel fuel is going through the roof because there haven't been any cheaper alternatives, like ethanol, that can be mixed with it to somewhat keep costs down. But, now there is hope in a toxic, non-food, drought-tolerant plant called jatropha.

Jatrapha's big promise as a sustainable biofuel is in its beans. 40 percent of every jatropha bean has the oil needed to make a biofuel. 20 pounds of those beans can produce one gallon of diesel. It takes 22 pounds of corn to produce one gallon of ethanol; and the process to make ethanol from corn is more involved and energy wasteful than to make diesel from jatropha beans. More importantly, you can produce 4 times as much fuel per acre in a single growing season as you can with corn. Another key factor is the fact that the plants are drought tolerant and don't need high quality soils in order to grow. Obviously, GM (genetic modification) should be able to increase these plants yields well beyond today's currently unbelievable yields.

Jatropha is well on its way as a core biofuel in countries like India and the Philippines. In America, at least when it comes to politics, corn (and the "votes" from corn-based economies in our States) is king. So, little is being said about Jatropha. Much of the experimentation that is going on is being done by farmers in Florida; without Federal support. It is too bad that politics (and voting blocks) have to always get in the way of what's good for our country.

Of course, another dirty little secret in this country is that "all" biofuels are just another dirty form of hydrocarbon fuels. They will pump out as much carbon dioxide and feed into Global Warming as any other carbon-based fuel. The "greens" in this country don't really want more CO2 emitting fuels. So, don't expect the Democrats to go hog wild over any jatropha funding. To the greens, energy independence doesn't mean independence from foreign fuels. Instead it means a society free of energy. They just as soon block a wind farm as they would block any refinery for oil, or ethanol, or jatropha. Deep down inside, they would prefer we all be naked; living in huts; and, foraging for food stocks from plants (And, for sure, not animals!). You know... being "one" with nature! After all, Mother Nature didn't make SUVs!