Biofuel Feedstocks Latest Candidate: Kudzu

yes, all of those vines are kudzu. photo via flickr

Our colleagues over at Discovery News have brought attention to a new report that an invasive plant that literally covers some parts of the American South could be a potential feedstock for biofuel.

Kudzu is a vine which was brought to North American from Asia in 1876 to help prevent soil erosion, which has since become an utter nuisance in some areas of the country. It can grow up to 6.5 feet a week and its roots are nearly impossible to eradicate entirely.

New research published in Biomass and Bioenergy shows that kudzu could produce up to 270 gallons of ethanol per acre: Not very much when compared to rapeseed, jatropha or palm oil but easily as much as can be produced from corn.

The catch in this is that domesticating kudzu may not be possible, harvesting it in the wild would be difficult, and then there is the issue of invasiveness. Given how the plant spreads, do you really want to plant more of the stuff?

:: Discovery News

CLARIFICATION
Just to make sure we're all on the same page: Kudzu is being proposed as a feedstock to produce ethanol, while the other feedstocks I mentioned generally are used to make biodiesel. Two different fuels to be sure, but ultimately each can be used with varying degrees of utility in the internal combustion engine. The point I was alluding to is that ultimately this is about how much liquid biofuel can be produced per acre and according to this report kudzu doesn't have as high a yield as other feedstocks for liquid fuels. Sorry if my lack of specificity in the comparison has caused any confusion.

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Comments

[ImmanuelGoldstein]

Biomass conversion of a source like this will never be anything more than a tiny percentage of American style hydrocarbon consumption. Move along, nothing to see here......

[zizyphus]

In the 1940s, the United states government urged everyone to "Grow Hemp for Victory".

That is still good advice today.

[totaldisbelief]

And illegal aliens can cut it down and tote it because no American is going to go out and wrestle with that stuff.

[darthdarcy]

Are they Crazy..!

That's all we need getting out of control and growing here covering and killing everything else..

The world's number one Bio Fuel is HEMP, it produces 10 tons per acre of bio-mass and is better than anything else and it renews every 4 months...m­uch better than even sugar cane way better than King Corn..whic­h we ll know is a disaster..­.

Grow Hemp and it grows in every state...ev­en Alaska..!

[divemate]

Well you sure have my vote. Everyone get on board let's plant hemp everywhere.

[zizyphus]

Hemp and cannabis could save the economy, the planet, and people's sanity.

[zizyphus]

Why does Bush hate God so much?

[mockingbird1]

Can't Huffingtonpost afford even one proof reader? Did no one even glance at this headline? American South and South American are not the same thing. Talk about dumbing down. Kudzu is from Asia, by the way. There is nothing lovelier at Christmas than a kudzu vine wreath. The leaves are edible, too. The Japanese use kudzu to stop diarrhea.

[nippersdad]

New leaves are edible when boiled as greens, mature leaves are like eating rope. Kudzu also has tubers much like potatoes which the Japanese use as a starch in their diets. It is actually cultivated in south Georgias' sandy soils for export.

I think the primary benefit of kudzu, however, will be as feed for livestock. They seem to love it. As such, the phenomenal growth rates will work well in smaller areas for local production as opposed to grain in factory feedlots.

[nikto]

Between Imported Fire Ants and Kudzu, The South will never rise again.

However, Kudzu does have the potential to be an inexpensive feed grain for
cows and pigs.

And as long as there are plenty of cows and pigs available,
nobody will have to eat The Rich.

[LOCUTUS13]

The use of kudzu and other invasive plants such as the brazilian pepper and water hyacinth is a terrific idea. Not only is the removal of these invasive plants good for the enviroment and the native species but also provides an additional profit motive. That said I also believe that using biomass for fuel a dead end in the long run. Keep in mind that burning biomass fuel also produces carbon dioxide and has its own problems.
I believe the answer to our energy crises and global warming has to be a multi pronged effort beginning with energy conservation. First we need to make our homes more energy efficient with greater insulation, multiple pane glass windows and more efficient appliances and heating and cooling. Greater efficiency in our automobiles, more use of mass transportation, and advances in transportation technologies.
Increased use of nuclear energy (yes I know that is not a very popular option) and reprocessing of spent nuclear fuel that reduces highly radioactive waste. Also some limited oil drilling in the mean time (at best a tempory solution with its own problems).
I do believe that one of the most promising technologies is the use of photovoltaics. If we can place solar cell systems on most every home and busisness would reduce our carbon footprint and need for coal burning powerplants. If we can harness the sun for our energy needs this technology can go a long way to reduce our dependence on oil and coal.

[darthdarcy]

HEMP..! Forget invasive..­period..!

[Biofuelsimon]

Cellulosic biofuel could save the US a tonne of carbon dioxide (well about 370 mega tons by 2030 if McKinsey has got its sums right

http://www.mckinsey.com/clientservice/ccsi/pdf/Greenhouse_Gas_Emissions_Executive_Summary.pdf

[leduck]

get cracking..­.,
get to work.....
because so far -- cellulosic biofuel is just an idea

[Biofuelsimon]

There's a two day bubble of of Kudzu enriched interest on the blogsphere. This particualr weed was reported in the Big Biofuels Blog a couple of days ago.

[SeenItBefore]

Having grown up in the deep South, I can assure you many a Bubba would drop to their knees and kiss your butt if this is a possibility. Once described as the vine that ate the South, recent visits to my old briar patch have shown me the description is too kind. Get rid of this stuff and the South might rise again. And, maybe you can make something out of the cursed water hyacinth, so we can have our swamps and inland waterways back.

[Biofuelsimon]

I hate to say this but you might need to manage the water hyacinth not eradicate it... if you're going to turn it into biofuels

[RTIII]

It would still be worthy as being a part of an eradication program. Develop basic tools to collect the damned things from people's land and give em local processing, and let the south erradicate this menace and create fuel at the same time. I'm sure tens of thousands if not hundreds of thousands in the deep south would work their asses off to eradicate this pest themselves if only there was _some_ payback and hope of success.

The plan here isn't to replace oil, it's to make kudzu removal a bit more worthwhile - a VERY laudable goal.

[RoloTomassi]

IF it has any real value to produce biofuel, then I think it could go much farther than simple eradication; if you've never tangled with this stuff, then you'd have a real eye opener coming to you. It's strong and it is extremely fast growing; once it gets a hold it's a constant battle from then on. It also will completely encapsulate anything stationary it encounters, so a little creativity in tressel design could maximize the output per acre.

But then we'd probably have to study it for 20 years while we drill for oil beneath it....

[HouseOfRoberts]

If kudzu really could be used to make ethanol, Mississippi just became number one!

[charon]

It might be useful if it can grow better on more marginal, poorer soil. How does it compare under those conditions? Of course, pot may be one of the best biomass producers, but gov't paranoia prevents that from ever being realized.

[incontempt]

Hempoline from hemp yields 380 gallon per acre.

[Harinama]

reference please?

[rupert12]

Exactly. Cannabis is one of the best biomass producers around. It grows in all kinds of soils, and literally grows like a "weed". The entire economy of Kentucky used to be based on it.

The really frustrating thing about the "paranoia" as you call it is that cannabis grown as a crop that is allowed to cross pollinate does not have any smoking value. Even the misguided criminalization of its psychotropic properties is invalid in this case. Yet the war on cannabis continues.

[darthdarcy]

Hemp is the best bio mass fuel on Earth that's how God planned it but Bush is against God....as we all know..!

[nippersdad]

My Dad once told me that all one need do to grow kudzu is to drop a seed on some concrete and run like hell. It loves anything it touches...­to death.