Tequila plant could fuel vehicles and help reduce emissions

[Bill USA]

http://sydney.edu.au/news/84.html?newsstoryid=7396


Large scale farms of the agave plant used to make the drink tequila could be established in Australia's arid inland as a novel and greenhouse-friendly solution to our transport fuel problems, a University of Sydney academic has found.

In an article published today in the journal http://pubs.rsc.org/en/journals/journalissues/ee">Energy and Environmental Science, plant physiologist Dr Daniel Tan and his University of Oxford collaborators have analysed the potential to produce bioethanol (biofuel) from the agave plant, a high sugar succulent widely grown in Mexico to make the alcoholic drink tequila.

The agave plant has not yet been widely cultivated as a fuel source, but it promises some significant advantages over existing sources of ethanol such as sugarcane and corn, Dr Tan and his Oxford colleagues argue.
(more)

[rrneck]

1. Okay, I have some pride.

But not today!

No way you could drive that fucker straight down the road.

[Xipe Totec]

2. AKA The Century plant

because it takes 50 years to mature.

[Bill USA]

3. 2,000 gallons of distilled ethanol per acre per year estimated by researchers in Mexico

http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/rea/news/article/2008/08/mexico-agaves-moving-from-tequila-to-ethanol-53265


High in sugar content, the project team estimates that varieties of Agave tequilana weber can yield up to 2,000 gallons of distilled ethanol per acre per year and from 12,000-18,000 gallons per acre per year if their cellulose is included, some 14 dry tons of feedstock per acre every year.
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"High quality agaves are very good feedstock material for biofuel...for the following characteristics: high total sugar density and content; high weight of the fruit and stems; cultivation and harvest cycles of six years; high density of plants per hectare; genetic diversity and high adaptability, low water requirements; CO2 and capture; methane metabolism; soil retention; plant nutrition; products from inulin; and low maintenance during cultivation," Madrigal said.

Moreover, "Agave is the ideal feedstock for an integrated biorefinery where biofuels, bioenergy and high-profit bioproducts are derived with a zero waste platform," said Arturo Velez, the Agave-to-ethanol project originator, team member and a former administrative coordinator for the Mexico Confederation of Foresters.
(more)

[Fledermaus]

4. That's a common misunderstanding, 8-9 years

"All tequila must be made from the Blue Weber agave - a particular kind of agave - and made only in Mexico in the state of Tequila. The agave takes about 8-9 years to mature."
http://www.mattas.com/tequila-101.html

They can live much longer. However, once they gather enough water they flower and die.

[Bill USA]

5. Jeez, sounds kinda sad: " once they gather enough water they flower and die."

thanks for the input.