Thursday, July 26, 2007

kudzunol


Kudzu
The Vine that ate the South!


Kudzu is the vine introduced from Asia, initially used as a ground cover, it grows fast and prevents erosion. It has pretty green leaves and purple flowers. BUT it is very invasive, overgrows other plants and anything else in its path (cars, houses), and is very hard to get rid of.

In the nearby city of Chattanooga, Tennessee they even use goats to control the kudzu on its surrounding hills.

A longtime nuisance here in the South, local entrepreneurs have come up with a great idea - to use kudzu for fuel, solving two problems at once - the overabundance of unwanted kudzu and an alternative fuel source, hence Kudzunol!

We watched this story on the news a while back, the process was shown using a contraption that looked and worked like a moonshine still, down to the end product - a clear liquid coming out into a mason jar. The fuel was then used to run a lawnmower!

Tennessee Agro*Gas Industries is the local company started by Doug Mizell and Tom Monahan for their kudzunol, and if they have anything to say about it, kudzu is not just for goats anymore!

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