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Date: Thu, 10 Sep 1998 13:46:02 -0600 (MDT) From: Jim Burnes <jvb@ssds.com> Subject: Re: Renewable Energy Stuff (was citizenship silliness) (fwd)
I think you misunderstood. They are claiming "gasoline equivalent gallons/acre" -- not that 1 gallon of hemp oil = 3 gallons of gasoline. And were not talking about "burning" hemp in that sense. In this particular case were talking about hemp-based biodiesel.
How many gallons of gasoline can you raise on an acre? Actualy the point I was trying to make is that it's comparing apples and oranges. Until it's in a dollars/gallon for each of them format no real worthwhile comparison can be made.
Raising a full acre of hemp in that matter is something I don't have the data on. However, hemp is widely known as a low-maintenance crop -- that translates little to no fertilizer. After that we have the price of the land/month, servicing loans on the farm equipment, labor costs, taxes, energy, water etc. Typical business overhead. And for that 1000 galgas eq/acre.
Well don't forget crop rotation since the hemp is going to deplete the soil if you simply grow three crops a year (which is possible this far south). There is also the issue of water, hemp is a plant that needs lots of water and is very sensitive to light levels/times, tempearture and pH. Hemp also leeches nitrogen quite heavily. ____________________________________________________________________ The seeker is a finder. Ancient Persian Proverb The Armadillo Group ,::////;::-. James Choate Austin, Tx /:'///// ``::>/|/ ravage@ssz.com www.ssz.com .', |||| `/( e\ 512-451-7087 -====~~mm-'`-```-mm --'- --------------------------------------------------------------------