The Energy Plantation

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Abstract
In an energy plantation, growing plants collect and store solar radiation for subsequent release as high-temperature heat. The plant material can be burned as solid fuel or converted into methane by an anaerobic biological process. Certain plant species and production practices are preferred for maximizing sustained solar energy storage capacity of energy plantations. Solid fuel from energy plantations will be less expensive throughout the nation than fuel oil and will be competitive with coal in northeastern states. Synthetic natural gas produced from energy plantations will be competitive with that produced from coal. All the required technology is at hand. Adequate land will be available for energy plantations on a large scale without encroachment on land needed for other purposes. Energy plantations offer many potential benefits and no serious drawbacks for our country.

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