Camelina Sativa makes into biofuel and livestock feed
With the wealth of new and old plants that are being researched for used as biofuel, Camelina sativa is one of the best. Not only can you obtain an oil from it for fuel, but the leftover makes for good feed for livestock.
Camelina sativa is also known as “gold of pleasure” or wildflax. It has many advantages over other plant based biofuels.
For one, the plant grows just about anywhere and will grow on land you can’t grow food crops on. Another advantage is a high amount of Omega-3 fatty acids in camelina which makes it a good food for livestock.
Other pluses for the use of this plant are:
* More cold-resistant than other plants used for biofuels.
* Can be used in crop rotation with wheat.
* When Camelina is rotated with wheat, the wheat sees a 15% increase in yield.
* It has about twice the yield of soy crops.
* The plant grows where others would die from drought conditions.
Two organizations are working to bring Camelina to the forefront of the biofuels revolution by working with universities on research projects and with farmers on crop potential. Sustainable Oils, headed by Don Panter, is working on field trials with universities such as Texas A&M, Tennessee, Nebraska, Montana State, Oregon State and New Mexico.
Great Plains, headed by Sam Huttenbauer, is working with farmers. Great Plains has "reached the production stage" while Sustainable Oils is beginning to recruit farmers rather than just universities. Back in February, Sustainable Oils (once supposed to be called Sustainable Fuels) announced:
Targeted Growth and Green Earth Fuel have formed a joint venture to develop a 100 Mgy biodiesel plant in Montana, using camelina as a feedstock. The venture, which will be called Sustainable Fuels, plans to sign up to fifty Montana farmers to grow the feedstock.
Of course with every supposed miracle plant for biodiesel, there are always problems. So far, camelina has four major issues that have prevented major adoption and cultivation for biofuel use.
* Need to education growers about camelina benefits.
* The high prices that farmers are predicted to get for corn and soy overshadow what could be made from camelina.
* Camelina has traditionally only been grown in the cold dry Northwest.
* Farmers aren’t willing to invest in long term camelina crops.
Being able to rotate camelina with wheat crops should help promote the benefits of camelina while limiting the liabilities. Having the duel benefit of a good oil content for biofuel coupled with use livestock feed should help with the adoption of this crop in other parts of the country and world.
Camelina is truly a "green crop". Once it is harvested all parts of the plant are used albeit for separate processes. Planting camelina as an alternate crop with wheat and cotton help improve the soil and crop outputs and help feed livestock at the same time.
Camelina looks like one of the better choices for biofuel production. Certainly better than corn or soy.
Via Biofuels Digest
Related Posts:
