islandpacket.com - The Island Packet Online

• Archive Search

Search Everything in the Lowcountry and the Coastal Empire.

Kudzu: The cure for the oil crisis?

Comment on this | | | | | | | |

Excuse me, but some of us have seen this B movie before.

It's the one about kudzu, the dastardly Asian vine that ate the South.

Kudzu was foisted upon a gullible region in the early 1900s by the government itself. It was sold as a miraculous way to fill our gullies and feed our cows. By about 1955, we discovered the joke was on us, as usual. That's about the same time we discovered it's impossible to kill a vine that grows a foot a day, swallowing rusted Ford Galaxies and entire barns.

Kudzu became part of our laugh-to-keep-from-crying culture. One or two Southerners even got rich with jokes like this: If your coat of arms features kudzu ... you might be a redneck.

Now comes this news flash: "Kudzu a Potential Biofuel."

Maybe the South really is going to rise again. This is like discovering we can power the world -- or at least the John Deere -- with Moon Pies, Little Debbies and collard greens.

Some entrepreneurs in Cleveland, Tenn., are calling the new fuel "Kudzunol."

"Although difficult to harvest, this otherwise useless pest can be kept in check and turned into a useful, 'renewable,' environmentally friendly and cost-effective fuel!" blares the Web site of Agro Gas Industries.

Ecogeek.org says, "We're in a bit of an eco-mess, but we've got the brains to lick any problem." It goes on to say that researchers have discovered an ethanol yield in kudzu similar to corn, which they say is not a very good yield. But it's the kudzu roots you need, and who's going to dig roots 6 feet deep from a hillside?

An intelligent kudzu discussion ensued at www.ecogeek.org. That in itself -- "intelligent" and "kudzu" in the same sentence -- is newsworthy.

But here's the real story: There's nothing like kudzu to teach a Southerner the days of free-flowing fuel for internal combustion engines are g-o-n-e.

Kudzu may or may not fuel a car someday. But if kudzu's involved, we can finally grasp that there are significant downsides to fueling up the pickup, cars, tractor, johnboat, four-wheeler, Jet Ski, Bobcat, motorcycle, riding mower, Weed Eater, chain saw and RV we take to the NASCAR races.

Seems to me we can do one of two things. We can stop some of our engines. Or we can take our miracle vine to the Middle East. Either they sell us cheap oil, or we plant the kudzu. But we better hurry. The kudzu might beat us there.

| | | | | | |