[Digestion] Cattails (was Re: Digestion Digest, Vol 12, Issue 17)

[Harmon Seaver]

  Yes, the research was done at U-MN by a group led by Dr. Douglas
Pratt, in the early '70s. I have a large packet of reprints of the
journal articles that Dr. Pratt was gracious enough to send me.
  The wetlands are not "that" holy, since cattails have become a
seriously invasive problem, probably due to hybridization and all the
fertilizer runoff. So the DNR in many states has what they term "cattail
remediation" projects costing many, many thousands of dollars. Primarily
they either herbicide (which doesn't help much) or drain the marsh,
bulldoze the cattails and burn them. What a waste!

    http://www.dnr.state.wi.us/invasives/fact/com_cattail.htm

stan simon wrote:
> There was some talk in Minnesota about doing something with cattails back in 
> the 80's when Perpich was Governor.  You would have to talk with someone 
> from  Academia in that era.  Dr Goodrich at the University of Minnesota may 
> have some information on that subject, if he has not retired.  \
> 
> One problem that I  foresee is that wetlands are a holy ground to the DNR, 
> any kind of agricultural activity would be forbidden, unless you would 
> create your own new swamp.
> 
> Stan L Simon, P.E.
> S. L. Simon Engineering P.A.
> 8060 160th Av NE
> Kerkhoven, MN 56252
> 320-264-5354 Phone/Fax
> 320-894-1117  Cell
> slsimon at tds.net
> 
> 
> o
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: <digestion-request at listserv.repp.org>
> To: <digestion at listserv.repp.org>
> Sent: Tuesday, June 19, 2007 11:00 AM
> Subject: Digestion Digest, Vol 12, Issue 17
> 
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>> Today's Topics:
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>>   1. Cattails (Harmon Seaver)
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>> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
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>> Message: 1
>> Date: Mon, 18 Jun 2007 11:34:50 -0500
>> From: Harmon Seaver <hseaver at gmail.com>
>> Subject: [Digestion] Cattails
>> To: Digestion at listserv.repp.org
>> Message-ID: <4676B42A.6040204 at gmail.com>
>> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8
>>
>>   One of the speakers at the MREA energy fair spoke at length on using
>> cattails as feedstock for ethanol. Since they can be used just as well,
>> or even better, for methane digestion, here's what I found out.
>>     He asked the crowd if anybody knew of any good feedstocks
>> for alcohol other than corn, and, of course, I piped up with my cattail
>> rant. He started laughing -- that was his next topic. And they've been
>> doing a lot more work with cattails that I've never heard about, it's
>> far, far better than I thought. You don't have to dig up the roots, the
>> bottom 3 feet of the tops are just as good. And -- you can get much
>> higher yields both of starch content (up to 70%) and tonnage, they've
>> gotten 70 tons per acre. He proposes changing all sewage treatment
>> plants to growing cattails for ethanol -- or methane. Likewise all those
>> cow and pig feedlots with their immense sewage problem.
>>    He also said that the spent mash from ethanol distillation still has
>> plenty of potential for digestion and that some ethanol plants are
>> already installing those.
>>    Another suggestion he had for feedstock was kelp, in particular
>> situating rafts of kelp farms at the mouth of the Mississippi to absorb
>> all the nutrients coming downstream. Has anyone here tried digesting kelp?
>>
>>
>>
>> -- 
>> Harmon Seaver
>>
>>
>>
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>> End of Digestion Digest, Vol 12, Issue 17
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-- 
Harmon Seaver