[Peakoil] Grist article

[Antony Barry]

On 21 Dec 2005, at 10:44 AM, Magarey Paul wrote:

> http://www.grist.org/news/maindish/2005/12/15/hearn/index.html? 
> source=we
> ekly
>
> Not sure how reliable the source is.

Soy beans need a LOT of water.

Mallee scrub doesn't and it stores carbon http://www.ballarat.edu.au/ 
projects/ensus/case_studies/oilmallee/

Let's hope that this works -

Oil mallee tree may be fuel alternative
AAP via The Age (Au)
The humble oil mallee tree could provide an alternative fuel for  
diesel engine vehicles within 10 years, according to a Melbourne  
researcher. Dr Damon Honnery, of Monash University, said the wood  
from the oil mallee tree could be heated to high temperatures to  
produce a vapour that could be condensed into liquid.

He said the condensed liquid could be used after refining as a fuel  
for diesel engines. So far the oil had only been used in a test  
engine. "We haven't run it in a car ... It's not ready to put in a  
car engine right now," Dr Honnery said. "The very fine filtering  
systems on cars would prohibit the use of this fuel."

He said researchers had to work out what had to be done to upgrade  
the fuel so that it would be suitable for diesel engines, but he  
believed it could be done within a decade. "We've been funded for  
five years ... but certainly if we had the right level of funding I  
would have thought 10 years would be quite feasible."
Dr Honnery said the oil mallee was a suitable alternative to ethanol  
and biodiesel because it was not a food crop, so there would be no  
direct market competition for it.

"Who knows what the population will be in 10 or 20 years time, or 50  
years time when we're still desperately trying to find liquid  
fuels ... I can guarantee the conversion of a food stock to a fuel is  
going to be challenged." Dr Honnery is part of a team including  
researchers from Monash University, University of Melbourne and  
Britain's Aston University working on the project.
(20 October 2005)


 From http://www.energybulletin.net/10080.html

Also see this 2000 report http://forests.org/archive/spacific/ 
audrener.htm

tony

phone : 02 6241 7659 | mailto:me at Tony-Barry.emu.id.au
mobile: 04 1242 0397 | http://tony-barry.emu.id.au