Ethanol from Corn, Sure. But from Artichokes?

Please do not encourage ethanol from Jerusalem Artichokes! There was a significant scandal regarding JA to ethanol in the upper midwest in the 1980s. The technology did not perform as promised and many farmers were ripped off in the process. The operators were convicted and did time. It is very important that we properly vette these technologies and feedstocks and discourage unfeasible ones. Scams should be exposed. We need to protect the renewable energy industry from the damage caused by such fraudulent activities.

Scott Sklar mentions "alcohol production literature" and I'd be curious to know some of the specific resources to go to. I'm very interested in the use of alternative energy resources (solar and wind) in the distilling process but am struggling on the research side.

Why not look into biodiesel from Jatropha Curcas? From what I've read thus far, this plant has the best ratio for conversion to a biofuel. Do an internet search on the name for more info on this one. Has anyone else heard of this plant or looked into it's possibility here in the states, especially the desert southwest?

Why not try algae to biodiesel instead? If you have space for an artichoke crop, would you have space for fish ponds? See www.oilgae.com for lots more information. See also http://www.renewableenergyaccess.com/rea/news/story?id=45323

I'm glad to see someone recommending solar-thermal to provide the heat for ethanol production. In India, using simple passive solar thermal, they were able to provide 70% of the heat for ethanol from sweet sorghum (an excellent ethanol source). Using solar trough technology it would probably be possible to provide 100% of the needed heat. I'm not familiar with the harvesting techniques for JA, but if it could be spread out over time, it might avoid the harvest impact of sugar-based sources, which is the only reason corn is even on the table - except for ADM.

I think the young man has a great idea. The scam in the midwest was selling a crop with no market. If they can design a commercial size facility to produce the crop i say go for it.

How about ethanol from algae? Is it feasible? Is there sufficient sunlight in the Great Lakes region for commercial cultivation of algae as a feedstock for ethanol production?

A long search process but it is worth it.
If you go to the journeytoforever.org website and search mother earth news then go to alcohol fuel table of contents. Chapter 3 gives you the yields of alcohol per acre. Jersalem artichokes are estimated to be 1200 gal per acre. They are not only easy to grow they are hard to get rid of once planted. The farmers in the pacific northwest had no market for ethanol at the time and no easy way to make the ethanol. The process is quite easy as the juice is a sugar base rather than a starch base as from corn. Jer Art. make much more sense than corn as they will grow on more marginal land and give higher yields with less input.

Jerusalem artichokes contain carbohydrates known as inulin. We cannot just use regular brewers yeast to convert these carbohydrates into ethanol.

JA yields are high. Ask any gardener in Manitoba and they will tell you they get 3 to 5 times more JA's than potatoes in the same growing space! Ethanol can also be made from JA tops, not just the tubers.

I'm actually looking for the yeast that will hydrolyze and ferment Jerusalem artichokes. I've grown a small plot of them and am also interested in producing ethanol for personal use.

If anyone knows where to get some type of Inulinase or one of these Yeast strains.

Kluyveromyces fragilis, Kluyveromyces marxianus, Torulopsis colliculosa or Saccharomyces fragilis.

please post the details where we can obtain these. We all can do experiments producing Ethanol from JA's.

At the moment I cannot find a source for any type of of inulinase enzymes or yeast that produce inulinase enzymes. Though there is plenty of literature on them.

Barny try http://www.stevianbiotech.com/product/products_enzymes08.html. By the way in europe we eat Artichokes they are very tasty (roast taste like parsnips and very good in soup and stews) I grow them in my garden, if grow is the right word. They are a weed really and take no looking after whatsoever. Be warned they make you break wind.

Barny,

I read your post on this website while doing research for my own ethanol production. I am also determined to grow JA on my property and produce fuel for my car. Another link to inulinase enzymes is http://www.sigmaaldrich.com/catalog/search/ProductDetail?ProdNo=I2017&Brand=SIGMA

Have you already processed a batch of JAs? I would love to hear if you were successful or not. If you read this, drop me an email: zackpage33@msn.com and we can talk about the process.

Scott
using solar as part of the energy is very simple, just preheat the water used in the still. i am in the planning stages now and plan to use solar this way, however distilation requires constant heat and i will also use woodgas and exhaust heat from my electric plant { 53 ford tractor running on H, Methane and CO produced in wood gasifier} CO2 from fermentation will be used in greenhouse and/or fed into the hot box {O starved} of the woodgas generator where it is supposedly stripped of one O molecule and becomes CO that is burned in the tractor engine. Since i can't keep the Jer. artichokes out of my garden i plan to try an acre of them for the still.

<p>Hello All,</p> <p>The Jerusalem artichoke scandal that happened in the 80's I was involved in it very directly as I was the engineer that designed and built the only successful harvester of them.&nbsp; This was a test plot in WY about 70 miles north of Gillette that was growing for about 4 or 5 years with unsuccessful harvesting attempts by the potato harvester people.&nbsp;</p> <p>The individuals that were involved in this conned me out of the payment for the machine they used to con others out of a whole lot of money.<span>&nbsp; </span>The problem that this engineer saw was that they had an excellent product in the Jerusalem Artichoke but were driven by greed or something else that caused this to fail.</p> <p>The product did everything claimed and with the ability to grow this plant in the soil of Wyoming, is adobe that will not grow any other productive plant but the Jerusalem artichoke.<span>&nbsp; </span>The problem they had was the way this Wyoming soil just bent up the best of what they had so the potato people just gave up.<span>&nbsp; </span>That is when I was contacted to see if I could come up with a solution, which was accomplished.</p> <p>As I am just a machine design engineer that retired a few years ago not a plant person or a chemist but the production problems were solved for the growth in this &ldquo;junk&rdquo; soil.<span>&nbsp; </span>That is what I was that was great about it and some additional research should be done to this end.<span>&nbsp; </span>If anyone wants additional information on the harvester just contact me.</p> <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman'">Chuck</span>

<p>There is more to this crop than&nbsp;ethanol.</p><p>My father was a U of MN professor (doctorates in Biochemistry/Nutrition) during the time the&nbsp;&quot;scandal&quot; hit&nbsp;Marshall, MN in the 1980s.&nbsp;&nbsp;At that time he had already published papers on organic and sustainable crops at MIT; The American Chemical Society and with the Italian Government.&nbsp; </p><p>Concurrently&nbsp;he was&nbsp;running workshops for the University on&nbsp;crops&nbsp;one could obtain ethanol from (corn to JA to potatoes).&nbsp; He was a&nbsp;huge fan of&nbsp;JA, because of&nbsp;its sustainable nature, and the way it so efficiently utilized photosynthesis. </p><p>In fact&nbsp;he was&nbsp;contacted many times for data by the &quot;thieves&nbsp;in the scam.&quot;&nbsp; The problem is not with&nbsp;JA, it was with the crooks. Either the crop has fermentable sugars or it doesn't?&nbsp; It should be a simple discussion.</p><p>We would love to work with anyone&nbsp;looking to tackle this difficult issue. Please email me @ <a href="mailto:vrrawate@hotmail.com" target="_blank">vrrawate@hotmail.com</a></p>

<p>Hello everybody</p><p>&nbsp;i am very glad to see so many comments about J.A. we are going to carry out a project converting large amonut of&nbsp; Jerusalem artichoke to ethanol. we have&nbsp;estimated the cost and income of this project. By using advanced fermentation tech and enzyme&nbsp;we can keep a production cost at about 1200 $ per ha. ,at the same time we get 2.25 tone of ethanol.</p><p>&nbsp;I am glad to associate with&nbsp;the companises or the individuals invovled in JA plant, JA-ethanol process, of course the person who know the history of 1980's &quot;JA scandal &quot;.</p><p>&nbsp; Mr. Chuck Gode ,i am very intreste in&nbsp; JA history in 80' would you please &nbsp;tell me your email?</p><p>myemail:simondowsonzhen@yahoo.com.cn</p>

Hello everyone. I'm new to this type of communication.
I have very good soil in Missouri and an interest in JA for food and ethanol. I live on a farm and my primary occupation is developing medical products.
I am very interested in hearing from Chuck Gode or anyone else with advice. I'm just getting started with JA this spring.
Chuck, Simon please contact me at gregr.miller@yahoo.com
I'm anxious to be involved!

Did you here about the Corn to Ethanol scandal???
WASHINGTON
Jan 13, 2005 - (NATURALWIRE) - The Center for Food Safety released today an extensive review of Monsanto's use and abuse of U.S. patent law to control the usage of staple crop seeds by U.S. farmers. The Center (CFS) launched its investigation to determine the extent to which American farmers have been impacted by litigation arising from the use of patented genetically engineered crops. Monsanto vs. U.S. Farmers details the results of this research, discusses the ramifications for the future of farming in the U.S. and outlines policy options for ending the persecution of America's farmers.

<p>It has been a while since I have posted here so here is an update.</p> <p>After a search of my files from 1984 for pictures was successful, there is a minor treasure trove of pictures, at least to me.&nbsp; They were also invaluable in re-constructing the harvester, which I am well underway in doing that.&nbsp; In the process it is being updated with some technology that did not exist then, it is being incorporated into the new design.</p> <p>This redesign in coming along very nice as I have the time to devote to it being retired but wanting to keep my hands busy.&nbsp; What is very surprising to me is the lack of interest in this great plant and the potential it has to be grown in virgin and otherwise useless soil.&nbsp; If someone could please explain that I for one would be very interested in what they would have to say. </p>

Hello everybody! As gas prices have risen to an all time high here in NY, I have decided to take matters into my own hands .I have spent some time studying the use of jerusalem artichoke plants for a fuel source. I am looking
for a low or no cost scource of J/A for my seed stock. Herb providers get top
dollar for a little amount of them. I'm looking for around 7000 tubers to plant
this year. If anyone knows where I can get any amount of J/A in the upstate NY area please contact me. rickcole@localnet.com thanks

Much erroneous info has been written about Jerusalem Artichokes and the "scandal" of the late 70's and early 80's that needs to be set straight.
There was never anything wrong with JA as a crop, as a food, as a feed, nor as a feedstock for ethanol plants, nor were the people that raised them fools, mislead, or conned in any way, nor did the business that sold the seed tubers ever commit a crime, but the whole gamut of Midwestern States Attorneys General were the only culprits in the "scandal".
We will probably never know why the AG's of nearly every midwestern state colluded to bankrupt that company with legal fees defending themselves from frivolous lawsuits and drive the only commercially significant source of seedstock for one of God's most wondrous Creations out of the market. Nobody will ever give a straight answer to this question, tho' there never seems to be any shortage of insult and innuendo.
Tho' Iowa, like most midwestern states, still lists JA as the Number 1 Noxious Weed, that is the wild variety that Native Americans planted near every campsite, dug in the Springtime, and relied upon as a staple of their diet for thousands of years, not the improved cultivars sold by the gentlemen referred to as "scammers", like French Mammoth White, common throughout Europe, and Columbia, developed by the Univ. of Manitoba.
We raised JA during that time, tho' we dug surplus seed from area gardens rather than contract with the MN firm that was selling JA seed for $2/lb.
A 'must read', even the most complete web page, http://www.hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/afcm/jerusart.html, is still not perfectly correct nor complete on the value of this crop or its management recommendations.
All JA are invasive, but easily erradicated by foraging swine. The whole plant is excellent livestock feed, tubers must be dug yearly, best in Spring for human food. The tiniest bit of root or tuber with a core will germinate, even refrigerated, an eye is not necessary. lmaden@frontiernet.net

I think this a good project to champion with the Obama administration. I did some research on JA fermentation in the late 70's just for fun but the nation sure could use this process now. Any practical ideas can be submitted to:
http://change.gov/page/s/yourvision

Dennis & Chuck (and anyone else that might be interested) I have been researching the production of ethanol (high level) for some time now and am very interested pursuing the matter further. Unfortunately I am not sure what steps I need to take in order to get to the next level.

I have read several articles on the subject but have not attempted to produce any ethanol from any plant source at this time. I would really like to run some ideas by either/both of you to get some feed back.

I believe now is the best time we have to make a real difference in the way this country produces and consumes energy.

If you have the time please email me sheninger01@yahoo.com

Chuck Gode would you e-mail me at bldrlarry@yahoo.com. I'm interested in your harvester design.

Does anyone now of Jerusalem Artichoke growers. I am looking for a supply to plant 10 acres this spring. I can be contacted at Jamesdlusk2@aol.com

To all those who contacted me, please send me an email at: freflyte@msn.com

I have lost all of the emails that I had saved in a confuser crash of my doing. So please send me an email so I can stay in touch. Also I am working on getting a website up for just the Jerusalem Artichokes as I do believe that it is necessary. There are folks who are now brewing up their own Ethanol and that is very exiting.

We are doing research on Jerusalem artichoke as a potential feedstock for ethanol production (www.isrr.ialr.org). What we find out that, it was very difficult to get tubers of known clones/varieties in the US. We could get hold of PI lines from USDA. We have to start from seeds, which had very low germination and viability. However, once you have plants in soil for a season, you have plenty of tubers to multiply and expand.
There are some groups who want to grow at the rural cooperative level. However, at the Government level, it is hard to convince funding agencies. They ahve their mind fixed on the "switch grass" and other cellulosic ethanol. They are missing the point that plants like Jerusalem artichoke can grow on very mrginal lands and will not compete with the food and feed crops, rather it will supplement.
Keep promoting Jerusalem artichoke with lively discussion please.

I've got a very small plot of JAs on my property in Silver Springs NV that I just planted in May. I just wanted to see how they would do in the sandy soil at 4000' without constaint attention. The ones I planted in my back yard in CA are doing great their about 5' tall now, they get water everyday. I can check the progress of both against each other. I eventually want to do what everyone is talking about, make my own ethanol from them. I read somewhere that all of the sugar is in the stalk until the end of the growing season then it moves into the tubers. If that is the case, when is the best time to harvest the stalk? Wouldn't that be easier than trying to harvest the tubers? All you would have to do is chop those suckers off at the nub and stack it like hay. I'll see if I can find out where I saw that and post a link.

Hello everybody,
I'm glad to see such a rising interest about JA, as this is a matter very close to me. I am a former Professor of applied Biochemistry at the University of Rome, in Italy, now retired. We have been working with JA since 1985 and found this to be a spectacular plant in regard of its many different applications (as you know, ethanol production is just one of its uses).
During this 20 years of research my research group has gained a rather deep understanding of JA by optimizing its cultivation procedure, selecting more than 200 different cultivars having a wide range of properties and analyzing their carbohydrate composition in both stalks and tubers upon harvest at different stages of development under different climates and water conditions.
Most strikingly, one of the latest results of our work – recently confirmed by others - resulted in the recommendation of JA as a polyannual crop. Exactly as suggested in the first thread of this discussion.
Despite the significance of JA - in my opinion one of the best ethanol source in marginal lands where water supply is limited - this has not become a widespread energy crop and I see this as a missed opportunity.
As I understand you share my enthusiasm in this blog, I'd be happy to offer my assistance to those who might be interested to explore the applications of JA for his/her studies, business or passion.

Please find attached some of my studies on the topic.
"The use of Jerusalem artichoke stalks for the production of fructose or ethanol"
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/0960-8524(91)90121-Y
or
"Production of fructose from cereal stems and polyannual cultures of Jerusalem artichoke"
linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0926669097000393

Well it has been a couple of years with no posts. Was wondering if there is any new information as to what is happening with this great plant.

Have been watching all the political rhetoric about energy programs but nothing about the chokes.

Chuck Gode