Farmer planning diesel tree biofuel

September 19, 2006 - 2:54PM, AAP

They say that money doesn't grow on trees, but a Queensland farmer believes fuel does.

Mike Jubow, a nursery wholesaler from Mackay, has begun importing seed from Brazil to plant diesel trees.

The tropical trees, which have the botanic name copaifera langsdorfii, produce a biofuel that can be tapped, filtered and used to power machinery such as tractors.

It is estimated a one hectare plantation could produce 12,000 litres of fuel a year - enough to make a small farm fuel self-sufficient.

Mr Jubow, who operates the Nunyara Wholesale Forestry Nursery and has been in the industry for 14 years, said he had heard about the trees from a colleague attending a forestry conference.

"I pricked my ears and thought 'This guy is having a go at me' but when I came home I got onto the net and typed in diesel tree and there it was," Mr Jubow said.

"I thought 'I've got to get seeds for this thing' and it's taken me three years to track them down."

He sourced the seed from Brazil and says the first seedlings would be available in late January.

The recommended method of growing them is to plant 1,000 trees on a hectare of land, preferably in a tropical area, then test them for their vigour, growth and yield about three years later, which ordinarily would lead to culling about half of them.

About four to six years later they would be measured again before culling them down to between 250 and 350 of the best trees, which would be inter-bred and harvested for seed.

Mr Jubow said a large mature tree would yield about 40 litres of diesel a year, which equated to about 12,000 litres per hectare of trees.

"It becomes astonishingly viable for a farmer to have a piece of his most productive land to get the tree up and running and then he can be independent from the fuel companies for the rest of his life," he said.

They are known to produce fuel for 70 years.

While the fuel cannot be stored for more than a few months it can be tapped.

But even if it is left too long, it thickens into copaiba oil, which is used in alternative medicines and fetches around $100 a litre in the United States.

And at the end of the tree's life, it can be milled to produce a light brown timber favoured by cabinet makers.

"There's nothing wasted on the tree," Mr Jubow said.

AAP

Minor parties hail poll results - our highlighting

September 10, 2006 - 1:40PM, AAP

The Greens and Family First have strengthened their presence in Queensland with a boost in their primary vote in the state election.

The Greens, which fielded 75 candidates in the 89 seats, received a first preference vote across the state of almost eight per cent, up from 6.76 per cent in 2004.

In its first Queensland election, Family First, which fielded 26 candidates, received seven per cent of the primary vote in the seats it contested.

Greens spokeswoman Juanita Wheeler hailed the support - particularly in Brisbane - which went against the pre-election surveys showing around two per cent support across the state.

"The key issues that we talked about in this campaign, like water, were the ones that people recognised the Greens had strong policies on," she said.

"There is a lot of momentum for us. We've had people come out and vote for us who never had in the past."

The Greens recorded more then 20 per cent of first preference votes in South Brisbane and Mount Coot-tha and increased the number of seats where they polled between 15 and 20 per cent from one to five.

The party also increased the number of seats where they polled between 10 and 15 per cent from 12 to 19.

Family First state director Peter Findlay said his fledgling party, too, was happy with the result, with strong support in rural Queensland.

"We can say on average we've doubled our result from the federal election in 2004 in the seats we contested, and averaged about seven per cent," he said.

In some seats, the party quadrupled its results, with 14 per cent in Darling Downs and 10 per cent in adjacent Cunningham.

"I just think there is a pretty high level of disillusionment, not only with the government but also the opposition in Queensland and people are looking for a credible alternative," Mr Findlay said.

One Nation fielded only four candidates with sitting MP for Tablelands Rosa Lee Long easily retaining her far north Queensland seat.

Party founder Pauline Hanson campaigned in Gympie for One Nation candidate Greg Houghton, but he managed just 2.2 per cent of the vote in the seat won by the Nationals' David Gibson.

- AAP