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+--- Thread: Airline Flies a 747 on Fuel From a Plant (/showthread.php?tid=69386)
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Airline Flies a 747 on Fuel From a Plant - kanesa - 12-31-2008
Necessity is the mother of invention. High crude oil prices spurred the search for an alternative fuel.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/31/business/31air.html?ref=science
Re: Airline Flies a 747 on Fuel From a Plant - macphanatic - 12-31-2008
If the tests pan out, it should be a viable fuel for diesel engines and home heating.
Re: Airline Flies a 747 on Fuel From a Plant - mattkime - 12-31-2008
it'll never catch on here unless that plant is corn
Re: Airline Flies a 747 on Fuel From a Plant - davester - 12-31-2008
use user name and password: bugmenoooot
We won't have any crops to eat, but at least we'll be able to fly places.
Re: Airline Flies a 747 on Fuel From a Plant - ztirffritz - 12-31-2008
I did a little bit of research on Jatropha a while back. I thought it might be a good crop for Eastern Washington. It appears that it would probably grow OK here, but it sounded like the oil is actually pretty toxic until it is refined. India is making a big bet on Jatropha, as are several African nations. The pressing of the seeds is tricky because the oil can be absorbed through the skin and has some type of toxin in it. There are some sources for the plants, but they were difficult to get into the US.
Re: Airline Flies a 747 on Fuel From a Plant - Mac1337 - 12-31-2008
Every alternative fuel takes something else away and that something is itself finite.
Re: Airline Flies a 747 on Fuel From a Plant - mattkime - 12-31-2008
Dakota wrote: Every alternative fuel takes something else away and that something is itself finite.
like sunlight?
Re: Airline Flies a 747 on Fuel From a Plant - rgG - 12-31-2008
We used to have a Jatropha house plant years ago and I had to keep it up high, away from the cats, because I had read that it was indeed quite toxic. IIRC, there are a lot of different varieties of Jatropha. Ours was a really odd-ball looking plant with a big bulb type base and strange stalks that came out of it.
Re: Airline Flies a 747 on Fuel From a Plant - Mac-A-Matic - 12-31-2008
If Jatropha can actually be grown successfully in poor conditions then perhaps it could be the crop that would help Africa reverse its' fortunes.
Re: Airline Flies a 747 on Fuel From a Plant - tahoedrew - 12-31-2008
Just read an article (I believe in the American Airlines magazine while flying over the holidays) that seaweed is being grown and harvested to be used as a type of fuel too.
~A