Scientists have created fuel from wood and plant material.

originally posted by: NthOther
Great. Another "reason" to cut down trees.

Not if we legalize hemp.....

Just saying.

And tell me about the land again? The government pays farmers not to grow things......

Just use all those corn fields they're wasting on ethanol currently to grow hemp.

i totally get that someone did some science here, and expect there are practical applications to be had in some facet.

But it is wholly underwhelming to read that they were able to turn wood into fuel. Its like we have come full circle to inventing fire here.

a reply to: Mandroid7 This is just a puff piece. Vanillin isn't a major commodity and a few plants would saturate the food market. The lignin bio conversion is interesting but gasifier technology requires no new process development and is well known. A gasifier can turn any carbonaceous source into synthesis gas [CO + H2] and well known processes can make methanol, diesel fuel, or gasoline. Use of plant wastes, except on a small scale, requires the collection and processing of the biomass which often takes more energy than it produces.
Here is a comparison of biomass that you might find useful. Coal is merely old biomass. Every foot of a coal seam was once a 20 foot layer of biomass, so an 8' coal seam is derived from a 160' layer of biomass.

All of our ancestors made fuel from wood. They called them logs and burned them in a fireplace to heat their homes.

originally posted by: Mianeye
a reply to: AdamuBureido

indoor growers already solved that, methinks?
y'know aqua/hydroponics vertical gardening ?

i don't think you realize how much hemp needs to be grown to substitute for wood....

The USDA reported in 1916 that an acre of hemp produced as much paper as four acres of trees annually ,

Hemp paper can be recycled 7 to 8 times, compared with only 3 times for wood pulp paper.

Paper made from hemp lasts hundreds of years longer than wood-pulp paper, which decomposes and yellows with age. Hemp paper resists decomposition and does not yellow with age

Hemp paper doesn’t require toxic bleaching chemicals. It can be whitened with hydrogen peroxide, which doesn’t poison waterways as chloride and bleach--the chemicals used in making wood pulp paper--do

Can hemp replace trees as a major source for paper?

a reply to: Mandroid7

The title doesn't do your story justice. ...But it does give good chuckle.

originally posted by: Grimpachi
a reply to: Mandroid7

Cool so gasoline and vanilla extract can be made from mulch or any trash wood, but it seems the paper industry alreadystrips out the necessary chemical in its process which makes it useless.

The solution: Paper industry needs to switch to hemp and the lumber industry that would have lost out because of it can now be part of making car fuel.

Everyone wins.

I'm of the opinion that we need to be able to have farms dedicated to this w no gov crying foul. Hemp is a fantastic resource from fuel to clothes.

Besides its its not any worse than tobacco and at least the rest of the plant can be used....

Surely the gov can see the revenue potential

Ps not a pot smoker.....but still not stupid lol

a reply to: Mandroid7

Was exited about this myself, to the tune of 1000 shares of a company known as KIOR. couldn't make a profit with $100 dollar oil, went bankrupt earlier this year. It doe's work, just not well enough to pay for itself.

originally posted by: Mandroid7

originally posted by: NthOther
Great. Another "reason" to cut down trees.

Man, I sure hope not. Hopefully the giant piles of lawn refuse at the landfills could disappear though.

You do know, don't you, that those piles of yard waste----without any added energy consumption----will turn to a nice, rich compost to feed the soil if you simply let them be. Pile it up, let it rot and scoop it onto gardens. WaaLaa! Food for the soil without the use of any fossil fuels. Mother Nature is wonderful that way if we let her do her work.

Yeah but... How much compost does your grocery store need?
. wait? You mean NONE????

How many grocery stores have gas stations and a constant supply of bad or old produce?

Uh huh....