Mobilizing the median
From the Salt Lake Tribune:
KAYSVILLE – Seeds planted Tuesday along a strip of Interstate 15 could someday fuel state trucks and snowplows, reduce the need for mowing, allow the use of less-harmful herbicides and grace otherwise weedy roadsides with blue, red and yellow flowers.
Utah State University and the Utah Department of Transportation are teaming up on an experiment to sow about a mile of grassy safety strips around the state with plants whose seeds can be crushed and processed into 100 percent biodiesel. UDOT will use the homegrown fuel to replace the conventional diesel in state vehicles.
The unusual idea came from Dallas Hanks, a 44-year-old biologist who is working on his doctoral degree at USU. With an initial $50,000 boost from UDOT, Hanks aims to prove the 2,500 miles of state-owned highway right-of-way could yield an annual average of 500,000 gallons of 100 percent biodiesel, also known as B100.
Hanks, a former Utah Valley State College biology instructor, said he conservatively estimates planting swaths of safflower, camelina, canola and perennial flax will save about $1.6 million per year in mowing costs. UDOT officials said they wouldn’t know the total taxpayer savings until the project’s first-year experiment is finished.
This is an interesting approach to growing feed stock for biofuels that won’t displace current food crop capacity. We’ll see how it works, but the creativity in approach is to be applauded.
