Aug 11, 2008 10:38PM GMT
Question
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Science - Environmental
Jatropha Tree Bio Diesel: Is This Relief For The US Oil Crisis?
The race to find alternative fuels is on and hot on the track is Bio diesel. The Jatropha tree, a plant that can produce diesel fuel and could one day power a 747, is being tested in nurseries and farms, primarily in Florida and Hawaii, to see if it can be used as a viable alternative biofuel nationwide. There are three seeds within the golf-ball-sized fruit of the Jatropha that when pressed secrete an oil that can be used as fuel in any standard diesel engine with zero processing. It's being taken very seriously by companies all over the world, including the Chrysler motor company and Air New Zealand, who is planning to test a mix of the Jatropha oil and diesel on a test flight in November 2008.Roy Beckford, an agricultural scientist with the University of Florida, said countries like China, India and Brazil have planted millions of acres of jatropha, but the United States has yet to invest in the tree. Jatropha looks good because it can be grown in soil that is not suitable for most food crops, but Roy Beckford says that jatropha will never be the main biodiesel crop but should be added into the mix.
Is this relief for the US oil crisis?
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raves +1 posted Aug 12, 2008 05:02PM GMT
Answered Jatropha is probably would not do much to help the US oil crisis.
I think even if it did work somehow to fill the engens of American and the rest of the world, what would happen to the trees... To me they would for surely go extinct. If the seeds are only what is needed, then what will happen when there are no new trees? Wewill run into the same thing we are in now, only there will be no more Jatropha. -
raves +1 posted Aug 12, 2008 02:29AM GMT
Answered Jatropha is totally would help the US oil crisis!
Lets get started. should have done this a long time ago. as with everything else. Congress really sucks to have been so stupid. If the price of oil had not gone up we would not even be talking about any of this. Now they want to do something. -
raves +1 posted Aug 12, 2008 02:13AM GMT
Answered Jatropha is probably would not do much to help the US oil crisis.
The problem with many of these alternative fuels is the amount that can be produced. It would take thousands, maybe even hundreds of thousands of these trees to produce the amount of fuel that would be need to supply the ever increasing demand. To be honest i think electricity is the way to go. It can be created using several different methods including solar, wind, and hydroelectric and would be easier to replenish than a grove of trees.
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Answered Jatropha is probably would not do much to help the US oil crisis.
Consumption vs. Production