[Stoves] The PROTOS Plant Oil Cooker

[Keith Addison]

Hello Tom, Kevin

>Dear Tom
>
>Tom Miles wrote:
> > Oilseed and bio-oil experts tell me that their biggest concern 
>with Jatropha
> > is that the byproduct meal from most varieties is toxic to humans and
> > animals.
>
>I think those are the very reasons why the Indian Government is
>promoting Jatropha... they have drawn a line, and do not permit
>conversion of food crops into energy.
>
>I would suggest that this is a very enlightened view, the wisdom of
>which will become increasingly apparent.

There's a place for it.

On the other hand, not being able to feed the seedcake to livestock 
makes for a much less efficient production system. Jatropha folks say 
you can use the seedcake as an organic fertiliser and that it has 
medical uses and so on, but this doesn't compare with using it as 
livestock feed, with, eg, some of the livestock manure going to an 
anaerobic digester to produce methane gas for heating the biodiesel 
process, or for running the diesel motor that generates power for the 
oil press and the pump. The digestor sludge joins more manure and 
crop residues in the compost pile, which fertilises the soil for 
further production of the oilseed and other crops, and so on. Lots of 
variations on this theme.

Sustainable biofuels (and indeed energy) is local and small-scale, 
and in many settings depends on this kind of integration.

With an oil feedstock that doesn't produce livestock feed supplement 
as a by-product the opportunities for such integrated production are 
far fewer.

The food-vs fuel scare really only applies to the previous paradigm 
of industrialised agricultural production of commodities for trade 
rather than food for people to eat (also a local matter), and the 
centralised production and supply of fuels and energy, which has to 
be decentralised if there's to be a sustainable energy future - 
impossible with fossil fuels, but not with biofuels and biomass.

Best

Keith



>Best wishes,
>
>Kevin
> >
> > Tom Miles
> >
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: stoves-bounces at listserv.repp.org
> > [mailto:stoves-bounces at listserv.repp.org] On Behalf Of Simon and Zoe
> > Sent: Thursday, May 03, 2007 2:21 AM
> > To: Discussion of biomass cooking stoves
> > Subject: Re: [Stoves] The PROTOS Plant Oil Cooker
> >
> > It seems that Jatropha can potentially have two advantages over seed from
> > other plants:
> >
> > 1. It can grow on land which is otherwise unsuitable for agricultural
> > production, it can even be planted as a stabiliser in areas of 
>soil erosion,
> > producing seeds with 1 year of planting.
> >
> > 2. Many organisations advertise very large potential yields from Jatropha
> > (up to 12 tonnes per hectare), on the other hand it seems there have also
> > been many disappointing projects in India with yields below 1 tonne per
> > hectare the norm and many farmers giving up altogether on the plants.
> >
> >
> >
> > ----- Original Message -----
> > From: "David G. LeVine" <dlevine at speakeasy.net>
> > To: "Discussion of biomass cooking stoves" <stoves at listserv.repp.org>
> > Sent: Thursday, May 03, 2007 1:00 AM
> > Subject: Re: [Stoves] The PROTOS Plant Oil Cooker
> >
> >
> >> At 02:45 AM 5/2/2007, you wrote:
> >>> On the subject of use of castor oil etc I think the stovers maybe
> > interested
> >>> in reading a keynote lecture I gave recently at National Oilseeds
> >>> conference. www.nariphaltan.org/biofuels.pdf
> >> Then I have a question.  With Castor producing so much more energy
> >> per hectare, whi are less productive plants being pushed so hard?
> >>
> >>
> >> David G. LeVine
> >> Nashua, NH  03060
> >