If you were to tell farmers in Queensland, Australia that diesel doesn't grow on trees, they'd say you're right, it grows inside them. As unbelievable as it sounds, there's a tree that grows in the Brazilian Amazon called the copaifera langsdorfi that produces an oil that can be tapped, filtered and then poured into your fuel tank. A group of farmers in North Queensland have purchased 20,000 of the trees and are hoping to set up a whole new kind of biodiesel factory. According to estimates, one hectare of mature 'diesel trees' could produce 12,000 liters of diesel -- annually. With all of the excitement surrounding agriculturally based fuels, it's a pretty huge oversight to have not mentioned that there is a tree out there that produces diesel fuel -- just like a maple tree produces syrup. The truth is: we've never heard of it before. Is the corn lobby trying to keep the diesel tree out of the picture? Or is the biofuels industry really just now discovering the diesel tree?
Obviously, the trees don't mature in a couple of season, like corn, so the investment is much more long-term. The trees also require wet, tropical climates to survive -- another drawback. In the US, for example, the trees would probably only grow in Florida. According to Purdue University's findings, 'diesel trees' can produce 25 barrels (1050 gallons) of fuel per year. Corn produces roughly 439 gallons of ethanol per acre.
[via Treehugger]
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