Global concerns about the environmental impact of combustion emissions from petroleum fuels influence new research to seek for alternative energy sources. The current study investigates the possibility of using safflo...Global concerns about the environmental impact of combustion emissions from petroleum fuels influence new research to seek for alternative energy sources. The current study investigates the possibility of using safflower (Carthamus tinctorius L.) as an alternative biodiesel raw material. Four plant growth regulators (PGR) were used to boost the production of safflower. Thirteen treatments were constituted from the four plant regulators and applied to the safflower crop arranged in completely randomised design, repeated three times. The results show that the effect of plant growth regulators was not more than that of the control. More studies have to be channelled towards the relationship between safflower and plant growth regulators.展开更多
Progeny studies of Jatropha curcas and Pongamia pinnata were carried with respect to bioproductivity,pod and seed characters which is one of the selection methods in tree improvement programmes. Variations in bioprodu...Progeny studies of Jatropha curcas and Pongamia pinnata were carried with respect to bioproductivity,pod and seed characters which is one of the selection methods in tree improvement programmes. Variations in bioproductivity and biodiesel parameters of both the plants were compared every 6 months for 4 years of investigation and analyzed by analysis of variance and correlation coefficient by Pearson＇s method using software Graphpad instat 3.06（for Windows and Mac）. P. pinnata has better germination rate（71.4 %）, 100 pod weight（PW）（311.59 g） and 100 seed weight（SW）（173.46 g） as compared to J. curcas for germination rate（43.2 %）, 100 PW（111.29 g） and 100 SW（67.46 g）. P. pinnata has strong correlation for plant height to canopy growth（CG）（0.948）, collar diameter（CD）（0.994）, number of branches per plant（NBP）（0.995） and to number of leaves per branch（NLB）（0.862） as compared to J.curcas which showed good correlation among plant height to CG（0.976）, CD（0.970）, NBP（0.988）, NLB（0.920） and to number of pods per branch（0.657）. However, J. curcas depicted negative correlation for pod breadth to seed length（SL）（-0.447）, seed breadth（-0.248） and to seed thickness（ST）（-0.364） and among the 100 PW to SL（-0.199）, ST（-0.220） and to 100 SW（-0.704）. About 4 kg of P. pinnata seeds were required for each liter of crude oil which yields896 ml of biodiesel on transesterification as compared to5.66 kg of J. curcas seeds for a liter of crude oil, producing about 663 ml of biodiesel. The quality of biodiesel meets the major specification of American Society for Testing and Materials（ASTM） standards for biodiesel. The crude glycerin and seed cake obtained as byproduct during biodiesel production were also measured which can be purified and used in composting, animal feeds, pharmaceuticals and cosmetic industries.展开更多
Jatropha curcas （L） has gained popularity as a biodiesel plant to serve as an alternative fuel source and generate income to small landholders. From the Bioenergy policy of Ghana, the government is collaborating wit...Jatropha curcas （L） has gained popularity as a biodiesel plant to serve as an alternative fuel source and generate income to small landholders. From the Bioenergy policy of Ghana, the government is collaborating with the private sector to develop about one million hectares of Jatropha plantation throughout the country. The objective of this study was to assess the importance which farmers give to ,Jcurcas compared with other indigenous tree species and identify the indigenous uses and niches of J. curcas in Ghana. Three farming communities were selected from each of the ten regions. A total of six hundred farmers, consisting of twenty farmers from each community were selected at random and interviewed with a semi-structured questionnaire. Results revealed that J curcas was identified as one of the most important tree species in nine out of the ten regions. Majority （56%） of the respondents indicated that it is mainly used for medicinal purpose and mostly found around homesteads. However. the study observed that, research attention is needed on integration into agricultural lands, germplasm collection and genetic improvement. These findings will help boost production ofJ. curcas in Ghana for the nation to realize her dream of alternative fuel from the plant.展开更多
文摘Global concerns about the environmental impact of combustion emissions from petroleum fuels influence new research to seek for alternative energy sources. The current study investigates the possibility of using safflower (Carthamus tinctorius L.) as an alternative biodiesel raw material. Four plant growth regulators (PGR) were used to boost the production of safflower. Thirteen treatments were constituted from the four plant regulators and applied to the safflower crop arranged in completely randomised design, repeated three times. The results show that the effect of plant growth regulators was not more than that of the control. More studies have to be channelled towards the relationship between safflower and plant growth regulators.
基金supported by the project UGC-MRP No.F.No.-39-258/2010(SF),UGC,Government of India,New Delhi
文摘Progeny studies of Jatropha curcas and Pongamia pinnata were carried with respect to bioproductivity,pod and seed characters which is one of the selection methods in tree improvement programmes. Variations in bioproductivity and biodiesel parameters of both the plants were compared every 6 months for 4 years of investigation and analyzed by analysis of variance and correlation coefficient by Pearson＇s method using software Graphpad instat 3.06（for Windows and Mac）. P. pinnata has better germination rate（71.4 %）, 100 pod weight（PW）（311.59 g） and 100 seed weight（SW）（173.46 g） as compared to J. curcas for germination rate（43.2 %）, 100 PW（111.29 g） and 100 SW（67.46 g）. P. pinnata has strong correlation for plant height to canopy growth（CG）（0.948）, collar diameter（CD）（0.994）, number of branches per plant（NBP）（0.995） and to number of leaves per branch（NLB）（0.862） as compared to J.curcas which showed good correlation among plant height to CG（0.976）, CD（0.970）, NBP（0.988）, NLB（0.920） and to number of pods per branch（0.657）. However, J. curcas depicted negative correlation for pod breadth to seed length（SL）（-0.447）, seed breadth（-0.248） and to seed thickness（ST）（-0.364） and among the 100 PW to SL（-0.199）, ST（-0.220） and to 100 SW（-0.704）. About 4 kg of P. pinnata seeds were required for each liter of crude oil which yields896 ml of biodiesel on transesterification as compared to5.66 kg of J. curcas seeds for a liter of crude oil, producing about 663 ml of biodiesel. The quality of biodiesel meets the major specification of American Society for Testing and Materials（ASTM） standards for biodiesel. The crude glycerin and seed cake obtained as byproduct during biodiesel production were also measured which can be purified and used in composting, animal feeds, pharmaceuticals and cosmetic industries.
文摘Jatropha curcas （L） has gained popularity as a biodiesel plant to serve as an alternative fuel source and generate income to small landholders. From the Bioenergy policy of Ghana, the government is collaborating with the private sector to develop about one million hectares of Jatropha plantation throughout the country. The objective of this study was to assess the importance which farmers give to ,Jcurcas compared with other indigenous tree species and identify the indigenous uses and niches of J. curcas in Ghana. Three farming communities were selected from each of the ten regions. A total of six hundred farmers, consisting of twenty farmers from each community were selected at random and interviewed with a semi-structured questionnaire. Results revealed that J curcas was identified as one of the most important tree species in nine out of the ten regions. Majority （56%） of the respondents indicated that it is mainly used for medicinal purpose and mostly found around homesteads. However. the study observed that, research attention is needed on integration into agricultural lands, germplasm collection and genetic improvement. These findings will help boost production ofJ. curcas in Ghana for the nation to realize her dream of alternative fuel from the plant.
