Apr 2 2008Problem Solved?: Tree Produces Diesel Fuel
The Brazilian tree Copaifera langsdorfii (aka the diesel tree or kerosene tree) produces a natural diesel fuel that requires very little filtering (one pass through a coffee filter) before it's ready for use. Just kidding about the coffee filter thing, I don't know what it takes. You stab the tree and presto, delicious, natural diesel. Unfortunately the fuel only has a shelf-life of 3 months. I was still excited at this point, until I started doing a little further research (being the intrepid reporter than I am) and found a source (wikipedia) that states "despite its vigorous production of oil the tree does not grow well outside of the tropics and does not show promise as a reliable source of biodiesel." So yeah, shit. But who knows, maybe with a little genetic modification we can have them walking around and talking like the Ents in Lord Of The Rings. Then we won't need cars, we'll just ride those leafy bastards.
Gasoline Grows On Trees [gizmodo]
Thanks to Bigjerm, who doesn't need gas to run because he's a solar powered sex machine, for the tip
Reader Comments
1. SlowMonkey - April 2, 2008 6:23 PM
So in the future the Brazillians will still be doing drive bys for population control but we'll all be walking (and too tired to reproduce).
2. packagedeliverer - April 2, 2008 7:35 PM
Here is a more interesting video article on natural fuel sources:
http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/view/id/227
3. j_major - April 2, 2008 7:44 PM
brazilian oil company, Petrobras, has a rich background of alternative energy resources: they've been studying corn biofuel since the seventies!
altough it seems like good news, if further research proves this oil tree idea has potential, Brazil won't hesitate in choping off all amazon rainforest to grow diesel-trees.
4. Scott - April 2, 2008 9:27 PM
Yes, but can you use it in fast food deep fryers? That would extend the life by months!
5. Toad - April 2, 2008 10:23 PM
"Brazil won't hesitate in choping off all amazon rainforest to grow diesel-trees."
Thats the kind of "i'm talking about what I dont know" comment.
I'm Brazilian and our president is tryn to make partnership with lots and lots of countries. We have also here in brazil a fuel named ÁLCOHOL ahahahahah!! Yeah... thats the name... we can get this fuel with a tree called Cana... Brazil gets sugar and this fuel from this little tree. And Cachaça, the drink, I mean.
Cheap and natural fuel.
More about it:
http://pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cana-de-a%C3%A7%C3%BAcar
http://pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%81lcool
I use this in my car!!!
Ooops, almoust Forgot: WE CARE ABOUT OUR FORESTS!!!
Toad
6. Vampiryus - April 2, 2008 11:58 PM
Hey, j_major,
You really don't have the slightest idea of what you're talking, do you?
If your country has the bad behavior of going to the last extend to grow their Power supply, even declaring war at oil producing countrys doesn't mean that everyone else in the world would do the same things.
Think twice before insulting others countries, dumbass.
7. bigjerm - April 3, 2008 12:16 AM
i'm (not very) famous!
i must've submitted a dozen tips before one showed up on the site.
8. SlowMonkey - April 3, 2008 6:28 AM
@4 first dibs on the Diesel Donuts.
9. Giggleloop - April 3, 2008 8:36 AM
It'd be interested if they could find a means of synthesizing this somehow, so as to not have to get it from the trees themselves. Anything that's not petroleum is a step in the right direction.
10. Meaty Urologist - April 3, 2008 9:45 AM
Next, we declare war on Alaska. That's where all the good oil is. That and the salmon. We need more salmon.
What's this about trees in Paraguay?
11. ASVB - April 3, 2008 10:08 AM
Walking around like Ents... or like Triffids? Because I don't want any genetically-altered-miracle-oil tree hunting me down and eating me!
Reference: "The Day of the Triffids" by John Wyndham
12. Quase - April 3, 2008 10:53 AM
Suck on that world. I wonder how long it will take Commander Cuckoo Bananas to declare "War on Forests" and invade the Amazon. Might as well call us "Brasil, the new Iraq"
@11: Dur! Dont quote your reference, let the dummies figure it out.
13. j_major - April 4, 2008 7:45 AM
@TOAD:
If BR uses big amounts of cane alcohol, there MUST be many fields for growing cane. My mistake was linking energy-producing tree growing with deforestation in Amazon region, which l have no proofs of the conection. But the fact that brazilian deforestation of Amazon region is more than prooved:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amazon_rainforest#Causes_of_deforestation_in_the_Amazon
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amazon_rainforest#Measured_rates_of_deforestation_in_the_Amazon
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amazon_rainforest#Links_to_main_causes_for_deforestation
@Vampiryus
l'm not american and if l were, l don't support Bush politics in any issue.
l don't recall insulting other countries:
- l pointed out that brazilian oil industry has been thinking outside of the box long before the global warming trend.
- And l also pointed out brazilian record of defortestation, on the amazon rainforest.
14. Jack N Off - September 8, 2008 9:30 AM
i dont appericiate your lack of class!!!!!!!!!!! the swear words in your article are very offensive. if you dont fix this, or rather take it off, i will contact the authorities and you will be in huge trouble young man!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!