>One of the last places you would look to find diesel fuel these days is in trees in a tropical area of Australia. But sure enough, a group of farmers have purchased 20,000 of these trees with a plan to harvest their diesel-sap in about 15 years.
The most impressive thing about this discovery is that, if the information is correct, no refinement process has to take place: the fuel can go straight from the tree into a diesel powered engine!
The botanical name of this wonder tree is Copaifera langsdorfii and is normally grown in Brazil. However, the area of North Queensland in Australia provides the proper environment for the tree to flourish in. The trees can apparently produce fuel for 70 years, and the sap that is derived from them can power a vehicle as long as it is used within 3 months of being extracted.
If tree sap can power vechiles, just imagine what else we can find in our own back yards?
Story from TreeHugger
Photo courtesy of Timothy K. Hamilton
