1960’s – 2012? Hippies And DIY – Sunflower Power

Source: Flower power in the Champlain Islands

DIY – grow your own biodiesel. Only time will tell the true story, but, at present this looks like it may well be a win / win situation for farmers, the environment and the American public.

Sunflower seeds will be pressed and the oil produced will be turned into biodiesel that can be used in tractors back on the farms. This is called the Farm Fresh Fuel Project, funded through the Vermont Sustainable Jobs Fund and funds from the U.S. Department of Energy.

One acre of sunflowers you can get up to 140 gallons of oil and all of that oil which can be converted into diesel fuel. But that is not all, the remaining meal can be used in a variety of ways. Inside is the meal of the seed and the oil comes out of that and what is left is part of the meal, this black part of the seed. And that can be used as a high protein animal feed. It has 34 to 35 percent protein. The meal can also be fed to chickens and hogs, or used as a fertilizer. It can even be used as a heat source. The meal can be burned in pellet stoves.

Heather Darby says the key to making the sunflower project work is farmers have to know how to grow the crop and produce high yields. This is part of the learning curve on what could become a viable farm crop. She says it costs about $150-$200 an acre to grow sunflowers.

Not from the USA. Please leave me comment about your home town and country.

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