New Biofuel Source: Trees to Tractors

Bryan Beer not only has a cool last name, but he also has a very cool idea for the future of fuel: Jatropha trees.

If you’re wondering what a Jatropha tree is, it’s a tree that is native to Central America, and it produces fruit with seeds that contain oil. This oil can be used to power diesel engines.

According to Roy Beckford, an agricultural scientist with the University of Florida, Caribbean nations have been using the fruit oil as biofuel for years, and countries like China, India and Brazil have already planted millions of acres of the Jatropha tree.

The U.S. was a little behind on this green initiative, but now that we know we are trying to figure out the best way to grow trees for future energy use.

Beckford believes that within the next five years we’ll have the technology to aid in the growth of Jatropha trees and other types of biofuel sources.

He said that he just wants to produce enough oil to run his four tractors (which consume 120 gallons of fuel each per day) to keep his citrus business alive.

You can read the entire article here.

It just goes to show people that with a Beer and an idea, almost anything is possible!

That was a joke.