Most folks have never heard of the humble Jatropha plant. Yet it is almost certain to become one of the biofuel superstars of the next 100+ years. But before we can appreciate the JCurcus we need to understand what a biofuel actually is, and why it’s so important to our planet.

What Is Biofuel Energy?

Biofuels come from renewable resources, rather than resources like oil and coal, which have a finite supply. Primarily, they come from oily plants – like the Jatropha – but other sources are used oils, like those from fast food restaurants, or wastes from municipalities and industries.

Secondly, biofuels don’t pollute the atmosphere with excess carbon dioxide because that emission is balanced by the CO2 used by the plants that grow the biofuels.

At this time, biofuels are almost exclusively used in combination with petroleum-based fuels, rather than being exclusively used. This means cleaner fuels, with less harmful and dangerous emissions.

Why Jatropha Biofuel Is So Exciting

1. Jatropha plants are brimming with oil! In fact, about 40% of the Jatropha seeds are oil.

2. The Jatropha oil can be used as a replacement for any kind of diesel fuel.

3. It requires almost no processing. The only steps involved are crushing the plant and extraction of its oil, unlike petroleum fuels, which require heating, distillation and the production of sometimes-horrible by-products.

4. Since there is less processing required, there is less energy used to extract and use this fuel, especially as compared to petroleum fuel.

5. There are fewer emissions with its production since it’s so simple to extract and use the oil as a biodiesel.

6. The remains of the plant, after oil extraction, can be used to make a natural insecticide and a potent fertilizer.

Jatropha Cultivation & Production

* Jatropha plants are very sturdy and hearty plant – no finicky rose or orchid here!
* Jatropha thrives in poor soil that is not suitable for food crops.
* It can survive a wide range of temperatures – from very high heat to light frosts.
* A single plant will product seeds for up to 50 years.
* It will survive in saline soil, which very few plants can do.
* It grows in very dry areas and can usually survive with only rain water – no irrigation needed.
* It can survive neglect and doesn’t need a great deal of care.

Jatropha Biodiesel Tests

> In 2008, Jatropha biodiesel was tested by Air New Zealand. Half of the jet fuel in one 747 engine was replaced and Air New Zealand was so pleased by the results that it plans to replace 10% of its fuel with Jatropha by 2013.

> In 2009, Continental Airlines replaced the fuel in one of two Boeing jet engines with a mixture that was 50% algae biodiesel and 50% Jatropha. This test was also successful.

Clearly, jet tests are very important because jets place incredible demands on an engine, much more so than passengers vehicles, trucks and industrial equipment. Since the Jatropha plant has performed so well under these stringent conditions, it’s obviously that Jatropha about to become a leading supplier of biofuel energy worldwide.

Note: This has been a guest post by our friends at Blissplan.com.  Please follow their link below for some excellent insight into various green resources.  Chances are you will all be hearing more about this Jathropha Plant from now on.  Cato

Electricity savings must be a concern of every American because home energy costs are expected to double or even triple in the next few years. Perhaps it’s time to consider solar or wind power?

The hybrid car has arrived. The hybrid truck and truck fleets are in use today. The hybrid tractor is now on the horizon. A few years ago Case IH displayed a prototype at an agricultural show in Europe. With a combined diesel engine and a pair of 67 hp electric motors, this prototype can be a reality in the near future.

For the near future and to reach a broader market, a number of manufactures are considering or producing hybrid and electric tractors for home and small farm use. This will help eliminate one of the last unregulated pollution contributors in the American market. But mass production is still not a reality.

John Deere developed an all-electric utility tractor with a 500 lbs payload. This is currently in production and available to the consumer wishing to think green when it comes to yard work. There have been reports of a larger hybrid electric and gasoline engine with a zero turning radius for the lawn but nothing is in production as of yet.

The Sun Horse is already available for a solar powered walk behind tractor. This tractor is capable of plowing and seeding crops but still is for the small scale. The price is between $2,300 and $4,700.

One would think that since almost every homeowner in America must keep his or her lawn neat and cut that someone would be producing green lawn equipment. These unregulated and high emission produces will have to be addressed. If it can be made economically it will be purchased and used. Think about it inventors, is the plans for hybrid lawn tractor in your mind?

Reference:
Greencarcongress.com
Coate.org

If you live in a rural area are you heating with wood?

Last year we heated our house with propane only because that was the heating system that was in place when we moved in and it worked. This year with the high price of propane we decided to switch to a wood heating stove.

In our case it did not take much thought for we live on top of a mountain with no neighbors on 140 acres of land that is surrounded on three sides by state forest land. We have an over abundance of excellent hard wood trees that need constant culling so it was a perfect choice.

If you live in a city or in a small community with close neighbors, then heating with wood might not be such a great idea because of the nuisance that your chimney might be spewing out. According to the EPA if you have a modern wood heating stove that is EPA compliant there should be very little smoke.

They say that if you do have smoke coming out the chimney that it is unburned fuel and that the new type wood stoves burn all of the fuel more efficiently and all you should see coming out the stack is a small wisp of steam.

Well we use an old clunker that is not air tight and it burns hot so we don’t worry about creosote buildup and it seems to have been working fine, until that is last night. Twice during the night I was rudely awakened by the Carbon Monoxide CO alarm! Let me tell you that gets your attention. The dogs ran into the back bedroom and I opened two windows and the door and put on some heavy clothes.

I think it was caused by the firewood being a little wetter than normal and the fact that I might have closed the damper in the stove pipe a little farther than I usually do. So I cranked everything open full on the stove and put in some smaller wood and got that baby roaring.

Let me tell you that CO alarm is different than the smoke alarm, which goes off many times when I am cooking, and it sure does get your attention. None of us seem to have any ill effects from it and I am going to go and get a new set of batteries for the alarm today.

For those of you that are heating with wood I thought you might like to see this old time poem on the subject.

Beechwood fires are bright and clear
If the logs are kept a year,
Chestnut’s only good they say,
If for logs ’tis laid away.
Make a fire of Elder tree,
Death within your house will be;
But ash new or ash old,
Is fit for a queen with crown of gold.

Poplar gives a bitter smoke,
Fills your eyes and makes you choke,
Apple wood will scent your room
Pear wood smells like flowers in bloom
Oaken logs, if dry and old
keep away the winter’s cold
But Ash wet or Ash dry
a king shall warm his slippers by.

Have you checked your wood heating stove lately?

In the race to eliminate the strong dependence of fossil fuels and gasoline or diesel fuel for automobiles one of the new technologies being tested is in using compressed air to power runabout vehicles.

Enter the Air Car:
A Formula One race car driver by the name of Guy Negre is the driving force behind the initial testing and production stages to produce a vehicle that does not require gasoline or a bank of electrical battery charges.

Compressed Air Motor:
As I understand it the idea came to Negre after thinking about the compressed air motors that are used to rapid start the Formula One race car engines. You may be familiar with such a device that is used on certain big rig trucks and heavy machinery where the engine being cold would be hard to spin over, they use a blast of compressed air in a small booster starter motor to get the diesel engine turning over fast enough to take off running on its own.

FlowAIR:
This concept has been engineered and refined and scaled to the size required to operate small personal vehicles. Originally these cars were going to be called CAT meaning Compressed Air Technology, but it seems as though another little company by the name of Caterpiller had that name locked up and the new car manufacturer has decided to name them FlowAIR which seems appropriate and also has a little play on the word Flower.

It is unknown when the actual production will be sufficient to make a difference in our environment and various starting dates and production companies have been changed from time to time.

Economy:
It seems likely that this will be a difficult product to launch in a down economy as investors seem to be a little edgy lately. But who knows? Many fortunes have been made before in a down market and maybe this is just the thing to give the economy a little kick start also.

Their website claims that they are taking orders for 2010 delivery. We wish them well. We love the idea that this car would have almost Zero CO2 emissions, as the by product is guess what? AIR !

Here are some websites that discuss the Air Car:

http://zeropollutionmotors.us/

http://www.mdi.lu/english/

If any of you readers happen to know any more about this Air Car project or any news about production we would love to hear from you about it.