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June 22, 2008
Kudzu to the Rescue?
I continue to be inspired by how plants could be used to address humanity's growing demands for almost everything. It's been said that crops are grown to satisfy the three F's: food, fiber, and fuel! The discussion for bio-ethanol has already moved on second generation biofuels, which use rapidly growing crops in which the entire plant (consisting mainly of cellulose) is efficiently converted to ethanol.
Recently, I read about a crop that is gaining attention for it's potential to provide cellulosic material: kudzu.
But what exactly is kudzu? I've heard of it but I've ignorant as to try it as a regular part of my diet. Doing a little research, I find that kudzu comes from the bean family and is originally from Japan. As a legume, kudzu can control soil erosion and has been used for making soaps, lotions, and compost.
In addition to its many uses as food and for grazing, there is growing interest in the US for using Kudzu to make bio-ethanol. Kudzu requires little water or fertilizer to grow. It grows very rapidly and in fact has gotten out of control in the Southern states, where it is referred to as the plant that "ate the South."
Jaymi Heimbuch at Ecogeek writes:
"Researchers at the University of Toronto and the US Department of Agriculture are taking a close look at kudzu, a native plant of Asia that can grow more than 6.5 feet a week and is nearly impossible to get rid of. The team examined the amount of carbohydrate in the plant – the part that gets turned into ethanol – at different times of year in different parts of the plant. They found the root carries over 2/3 of the carbs by weight, and they estimate kudzu could produce 2.2 to 5.3 tons of carbs per acre. This translates to 270 gallons of ethanol per acre, comparable to the ethanol yield of corn."
Given that energy yields similar to corn can be achieved with far fewer resources, it will be interesting to see what researcher will say about how kudzu could be used for making fuel.
More interestingly, I also found out from Wikipedia that Kudzu is used in Chinese Medicine and that it's one of the known plants used for medicine I've been taking for allergies. In traditional medicine, it is known as 葛根 or kakkon.
投稿者 econetworks : 06:01 PM | コメント (0) | トラックバック
June 18, 2008
Book Review: Back of the Napkin
I still struggle to communicate to strangers, friends, and even relatives on why I think working on climate change is important. Even harder is what kind of solutions we should pursue. For that matter, even technical concepts are often difficult to express. Analogies are useful but sometimes it's hard to find the right ones. One recent book showed the power of visualization and how simple drawings - even those on the back of a napkin - could make all the difference.
The other day, I got a press review copy of Dan Roam's "The Back of the Napkin." Seeing how entertaining the pictures were in the book, I immediately called for an interview with the author but then I realized that my partner at the Berkeley Groks Science Show had already done one:
Nevertheless, I also looked through the book and was thoroughly impressed. Dan presented some very relevant ideas on communicating complex ideas and the power visualization. The more I think about it, even simple ideas often do not get communicated very well with just words.
The prime example the author gives is how the airline company Southwest got started. Evidently, the founder Herb Kelleher showed to investors a picture on a napkin: three dots representing Dallas, Houston, and San Antonio and three arrows showing flights between them. That was all he needed to sell his idea!
What makes the author so compelling is that visual thinking does not require any artistic talent. Roam sums up the book as follows:
"Visual thinking is an extraordinarily powerful way to solve problems, and though it may appear to be something new, the fact is that we already know how to do it."
The book explains how powerful our visual system is and how anyone can use it to express ideas and solve any problem. This reminded me of my high school chemistry teacher who always encouraged us to draw simple pictures when approaching any problem...and it always worked!
What got me excited was how useful this is for scientists and entrepreneurs (and anyone for that matter!) to communicate sustainability concepts to the public. It's easy to forgot how simple drawings can really facilitate problem solving and can be applied to all sorts of situations. Roam does an excellent job of codifying these concepts.
The book gives valuable lessons on developing and presenting a visual approach for solving problems and selling ideas. Roam discusses the 4 steps of visual thinking, the 5 focusing questions, and the 6 ways we see (and show).
For more information, check out Dan Roam's website at: www.thebackofthenapkin.com or you can also buy it on Amazon.