South African company trials biofuel feedstocks on mine tailings

May 17, 2016 |

In South Africa, G-Tech has teamed with mines to trial growing feedstock for ethanol and biodiesel on mine tailings. The plants are grown with a PLA layer to protect them from the poor quality land to get them a head start in establishment. G-Tech planted about an acre with dryland sorghum and soybean to see what could grow, and about 50% of the sorghum survived. The soy didn’t respond well to growing conditions but another trial will be held using irrigation to see if it improves production capacity.

Category: Fuels

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