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  • From: "Lawrence F. London, Jr." <lflj@intrex.net>
  • To: permaculture <permaculture@lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: [permaculture] The energy-efficient homestead.
  • Date: Thu, 27 Dec 2007 03:25:02 -0500


A side note: "Wired Science" on PBS TV is excellent viewing.

Attn: David

I was thinking about generating methane from algae tonight and remembered
David's suggestion to use higher plants for this purpose.

Recycling nutrient-rich runoff from farmland, out of gardens, across
homesteads, from pastures and woodland
by first impounding it then growing algae and duckweed in it to be harvested
and used as fertilizer, mulch or compost
for crops that would at maturity be harvested for conversion to methane might be a better and more complete system for converting organic nutrients to energy than a typical store-and-pump-onto-cropland system which has its own built in set of problems. The previous system has no problems and a minimum energy footprint. Runoff can be stored in any size and number of holes in the ground, lined or unlined, in impermeable soil or highly permeable soil. Harvest can be done by hand. Water becomes clear and clean before disappearing into the aquifer or pumped onto crops or used to water livestock. You gain a valuable, natural nutrient and microbe-rich mulch and soil amendment to grow a variety of crops.
A constant source of nutrient-rich water will be available, dependant on rainfall. Grey water could be used in a gravity-fed chain of impoundments that feeds the rainfall-runoff-fed algae-duckweed ponds for use only in growing energy crops.

Which crops are bet for conversion to methane? aquatic plants (cattails, water hyacinth, etc.)? or land-based crops such as Johnson grass, kudzu, wild amaranth, etc.?

LL
--
Lawrence F. London, Jr.
lflj@intrex.net
lflj@bellsouth.net
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