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</o:shapelayout></xml><![endif]--></head><body lang=EN-CA link=blue vlink=purple><div class=WordSection1><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'>Dear Dr AD<o:p></o:p></span></p><div><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><b><span lang=EN-US style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'>></span></b>The roots of Vetiver contain a volatile fragrant oil of great economic importance. <span style='color:#1F497D'><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'>Do you know if the extraction process is simple distillation? There is a relatively successful project based at the Univ of Fort Hare in the Eastern Cape, South Africa, distilling root oils. I have never heard that Vetiver was a possible candidate for this.</span><span style='color:#1F497D'><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><span style='color:#1F497D'>></span>Vetiver has no pests or diseases. Even cattle does not eat it. <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'>That is a pretty attractive plant if it is not invasive. Some of the best grasses in the British Colonies are for thatching. The Brits realised long ago that the quality of thatch was not very good in many places so they sent shiploads of seed all over the Empire. This was tossed out of the back of Landrovers that drove up and down country lanes in, for example, Swaziland and Zimbabwe. These grasses grew really well and people hang around the roadside to reap the product at the end of each summer. In the past 50 years or so it has moved into the verges of fields but it is not very invasive. It would make an excellent fuel for stoves. It is dense and grows to perhaps 3 metres maximum and lasts 25 years as a roof material, or about the same as asphalt shingles in Canada. It is not elephant grass which is much taller and not such a good roofing material.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'>Because it is so easy to transport (being right beside the road in most places) it is traded all over and has quite a high value. In order to be attractive as a fuel it would have to be more plentiful and grown as switchgrass is now.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'>Does it have high ash? Does it have high C, P and K? I am thinking of Alex English’s glass manufacturing hay burner near Kingston. </span><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:Wingdings;color:#1F497D'>J</span><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'>Would not papyrus also be a good fuel? There is masses of it around the shores of Lake Victoria. I always wondered why no one makes paper from it!<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'>Regards<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'>Crispin<o:p></o:p></span></p></div></div></body></html>