Arthur T Knackerbracket has found the following story:
The efficient, low-water process could also help produce ethanol for hand sanitiser, which is in high demand during the COVID-19 pandemic.
In an article published this week in the Journal of Cleaner Production, University of Sydney agronomist Associate Professor Daniel Tan with international and Australian colleagues 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 is now being grown as a biofuel source on the Atherton Tablelands in Far North Queensland by MSF Sugar, and it promises some significant advantages over existing sources of bioethanol such as sugarcane and corn, Associate Professor Tan said.
"Agave is an environmentally friendly crop that we can grow to produce ethanol-based fuels and healthcare products," said Associate Professor Tan from the Sydney Institute of Agriculture.
"It can grow in semi-arid areas without irrigation; and it does not compete with food crops or put demands on limited water and fertiliser supplies. Agave is heat and drought tolerant and can survive Australia's hot summers."
-- submitted from IRC
Xiaoyu Yan, Kendall R. Corbin, Rachel A. Burton, Daniel K.Y. Tan. Agave: A promising feedstock for biofuels in the water-energy-food-environment (WEFE) nexus. Journal of Cleaner Production, 2020; 261: 121283 DOI: 10.1016/j.jclepro.2020.121283
(Score: 2) by ElizabethGreene on Friday April 03 2020, @01:07AM (3 children)
The water requirements for the arid-adapted agave are significantly smaller than tropical sugar cane; 10 inches of water per year vs. 50 inches.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday April 03 2020, @02:32AM
It's not just the amount, it's also when. As a desert plant agave would be a lot more tolerant of nothing for most of the year then 10 inches of rain in a week.
(Score: 2) by MostCynical on Saturday April 04 2020, @01:39AM (1 child)
better than trying to grow cotton [timalderman.com]
"I guess once you start doubting, there's no end to it." -Batou, Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex
(Score: 2) by ElizabethGreene on Saturday April 04 2020, @04:19PM
If ever a plant needed to be re-engineered from the ground up, it's cotton. From a sustainability perspective it's an absolute shitshow.