Kudzu as BioFuel
Posted 07-26-2008 at 03:32 AM by njqt466
Kudzu Gets Kudos as a Potential Biofuel
Jessica Marshall, Discovery News
June 16, 2008 -- As concerns rise over corn ethanol creating competition between food and fuels, ethanol made from one of the country's most invasive plants -- kudzu -- could be part of the solution, according to Rowan Sage of the University of Toronto and colleagues at the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
The kudzu vine, also known as "the plant that ate the South," was brought from eastern Asia in 1876 and can grow more than 6.5 feet a week. Its starchy roots plunge deep into the soil, and just a fragment of the plant remaining in the ground is enough to allow it to come back next season.
"Kudzu is just a large amount of carbohydrate sitting below ground waiting for anyone to come along and dig it up," Sage said. "The question is, is it worthwhile to dig it up?"
His team gathered samples of kudzu from different locations in the south at different times of year and measured the amount of carbohydrate -- which can be converted into ethanol by yeast -- present in leaves, vines and roots.
The roots were by far the largest source of carbohydrate in the plant: up to 68 percent carbohydrate by dry weight, compared to a few percent in leaves and vines.
The researchers estimate that kudzu could produce 2.2 to 5.3 tons of carbohydrate per acre in much of the South, or about 270 gallons per acre of ethanol, which is comparable to the yield for corn of 210 to 320 gallons per acre. They recently published their findings in Biomass and Bioenergy.
Crucial to making the plan work would be figuring out whether kudzu could be economically harvested, especially the roots, which can be thick and grow more than six feet deep. To balance this expense, Sage said, the plant requires zero planting, fertilizer or irrigation costs.
Even if equipment could harvest the roots, a large fraction of kudzu vines blanket steep hillsides and would be difficult to access. The team estimated that about one-third of kudzu plants would be harvestable. If so, they calculate that kudzu could offer about 8 percent of the 2006 U.S. bioethanol supply.
"It's not going to solve anybody's energy crisis, but it would be a useful supplement," Sage said.
"You could use it to get rid of the kudzu," he said, "or, alternatively, you could let it regenerate naturally, and just walk away and then come back and do it again in a few years."
"There is a conundrum there," said Irwin Forseth of the University of Maryland in College Park. "Unless you're going to let it come back and devote some land to cultivating it, it wouldn't form a stable source. You wouldn't want to put in a stable infrastructure and work out how to extract it from roots to have it go away after three years."
However, if existing corn ethanol manufacturing plants could be used to process kudzu, too, then the approach might be feasible, Forseth said.
Bob Tanner of Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tenn., proposed using kudzu for energy in the energy crisis of the 1970s, but he now suggests that the starch, which is used as a gelling product in food in Japan, carries a higher value as a food product.
He advocates using the starch for food and converting the cellulose -- the woody, fibrous carbohydrate that gives structure to the stems and leaves -- into ethanol once processes under development are commercially available.
The fibers also make fine textiles, Tanner said.
"My suggestion is, be creative. Don't cuss at it. Use it creatively."
Jessica Marshall, Discovery News
June 16, 2008 -- As concerns rise over corn ethanol creating competition between food and fuels, ethanol made from one of the country's most invasive plants -- kudzu -- could be part of the solution, according to Rowan Sage of the University of Toronto and colleagues at the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
The kudzu vine, also known as "the plant that ate the South," was brought from eastern Asia in 1876 and can grow more than 6.5 feet a week. Its starchy roots plunge deep into the soil, and just a fragment of the plant remaining in the ground is enough to allow it to come back next season.
"Kudzu is just a large amount of carbohydrate sitting below ground waiting for anyone to come along and dig it up," Sage said. "The question is, is it worthwhile to dig it up?"
His team gathered samples of kudzu from different locations in the south at different times of year and measured the amount of carbohydrate -- which can be converted into ethanol by yeast -- present in leaves, vines and roots.
The roots were by far the largest source of carbohydrate in the plant: up to 68 percent carbohydrate by dry weight, compared to a few percent in leaves and vines.
The researchers estimate that kudzu could produce 2.2 to 5.3 tons of carbohydrate per acre in much of the South, or about 270 gallons per acre of ethanol, which is comparable to the yield for corn of 210 to 320 gallons per acre. They recently published their findings in Biomass and Bioenergy.
Crucial to making the plan work would be figuring out whether kudzu could be economically harvested, especially the roots, which can be thick and grow more than six feet deep. To balance this expense, Sage said, the plant requires zero planting, fertilizer or irrigation costs.
Even if equipment could harvest the roots, a large fraction of kudzu vines blanket steep hillsides and would be difficult to access. The team estimated that about one-third of kudzu plants would be harvestable. If so, they calculate that kudzu could offer about 8 percent of the 2006 U.S. bioethanol supply.
"It's not going to solve anybody's energy crisis, but it would be a useful supplement," Sage said.
"You could use it to get rid of the kudzu," he said, "or, alternatively, you could let it regenerate naturally, and just walk away and then come back and do it again in a few years."
"There is a conundrum there," said Irwin Forseth of the University of Maryland in College Park. "Unless you're going to let it come back and devote some land to cultivating it, it wouldn't form a stable source. You wouldn't want to put in a stable infrastructure and work out how to extract it from roots to have it go away after three years."
However, if existing corn ethanol manufacturing plants could be used to process kudzu, too, then the approach might be feasible, Forseth said.
Bob Tanner of Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tenn., proposed using kudzu for energy in the energy crisis of the 1970s, but he now suggests that the starch, which is used as a gelling product in food in Japan, carries a higher value as a food product.
He advocates using the starch for food and converting the cellulose -- the woody, fibrous carbohydrate that gives structure to the stems and leaves -- into ethanol once processes under development are commercially available.
The fibers also make fine textiles, Tanner said.
"My suggestion is, be creative. Don't cuss at it. Use it creatively."
Total Comments 10
Comments
 |  I thought of this around the same time as listed in the date in my personal blog, and sent out notes to a few newspapers, etc, getting zero response. Other stuff that can be converted easily would be Jerusalem Artichokes, which grow like weeds, need little care and have virtually no insect enemies. The tubers they produce weighing from a few ounces to a few pounds can be converted. The greenery is enjoyed by cattle. Hemp offers the same benefits, but the touchy issue often gets in the way of sensibilities, since the non intoxicating fiber hemp can be mistaken for the one that people smoke for fun, and vice versa. Possibly, there are other plants that can be used the same way. Honeysuckle, crab grass, sweet gum trees, and so on... |
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| |  If they start using crabgrass for biofuel my backyard is gonna be a gold mine  I love honeysuckles, I don't want to grow them just to grind them up for fuel. |
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| |  Many people are on the Bio Diesel bandwagon, my nephew's restaurant sells their old cooking oil now instead of paying waste dump fee. |
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| |  Kudzu = delicious |
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| |  I think it would be a good supplementary source, and I imagine that we could just throw some research and development monies at it to optimize the fuel source. Better that than bitching about offshore drilling. |
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| |  As you know NJ, down here that shit is just as, if not more common, than water. It's be good to see it put to good use. |
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| | I've always said they need to figure a way to turn Kudzu into fuel. It's everywhere down here and you sure as hell can't kill the stuff. |
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| |  Everyone seems to be looking at many things to make ethanol from, but no one is looking at what we really need to make ethanol from. Why is that? Are we purposely being misled? Sugar cane. It will grow most anyplace that corn grows. Corn yields about 300 gallons per acre. Sugar cane yields about 800 gallons per acre. (Not to mention the goodies that it yields!!) So we make ethanol from sugar cane, go back to growing corn, food prices go back down, problem solved. |
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| | EagleCowboy for President! EagleCowboy, you know that sounds too much like sense, which means the powers that be will never go for it. |
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| | Don't the people in many South American countries (or at least a few) already have sugar cane ethanol ? |
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