Alternative fuels > Straight Vegetable Oil

"Diesel Tree"

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Guy_Incognito:
Anyone seen these about? Google for it.

A guy nearby is importing them and is going to sell seedlings at $4 a pop.
It would be a perfectly suited to the block I've got - high rainfall (3800mm/yr) tropical temps.
After 7-10 years, a hole is drilled in the trunk and the oil is tapped off.
Yields after they mature is in the order of 40-60 litres a tree a year for , well, the life of the tree - 70 years or so.

Apparently it burns pretty well as is, but doesn't store too good, but you can just leave it in the tree if you don't need it.
A dozen of those scattered around the block would pretty much cover my modest annual diesel usage once they mature.

t19:
I wish they would grow in Ontario :D

Produces fuel... and when they stop, you can harvest the wood for furnature making.... So why is South America so poor?

Guy_Incognito:
I dunno, but I'll get a dozen and let you know how they go in 10 years time  ;)

If they yield reasonably well (say, 50L / yr / tree ) that's 600 litres a year from a dozen mature trees scattered around the place.
Working backwards from that, that'd be 3 or 4 hours of listeroid running a week, which is conveniently close to what I'll probably need to keep the batteries for my solar setup charged.

oldnslow:
Does the seller tell you the genus and species of the tree? Copaifera langsdorfii may be it but the one in Brazil is  Copaiba i think. Even the Jatropha is referred to by some as "diesel tree". I would be interested in trying to grow some of these as an alternative to the Chinese tallow tree. What state are you in? I am in Florida. I may be in a climate zone where these can grow. Thanks.

Guy_Incognito:
Well, I live in Queensland, Australia, so comparing climates might be a bit tricky.

But the guy importing them here lives in a region that would be defined as semi-tropical, top max temps of about 34 degrees C, lower temps of about 4 or 5 degrees C, rainfall is about 1200mm / year. I did find this snippet:

"Ecology

Probably ranging from Subtropical Dry to Wet through Tropical Dry to Wet Forest Life Zones, this copaiba probably tolerates annual precipitation of 10 to 40 dm, annual temperature of 20 to 27°C (with no frost), and pH of 4.5 to 7.5. Early USDA publications suggest that most copaiba comes from regions with annual precipitation of 3500 mm or more and annual temperature ca 27°C."

Googling about seems to indicate Copaiba and Copaifera are generally synonyms, but there are three sub-species - Officinalis, Langsdorfii and Reticulata .

Hope he's importing the right one. Or the one that makes the most amount of oil :D

I'll give him a ring tomorrow and see what he says.

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