Thursday, December 31, 2009

Dandelion Farmers of the World Unite!

Even I could grow Dandelions, but I have a difficult time not growing them, if you know what I mean.

That which may seem to be bad news can actually lead to some good news upon occasion. For example, Time Magazine has awarded the invention of the year to those who invented a way to make rubber from Dandelions:


A fast-spreading fungus is ravaging the world's rubber trees. But thanks to researchers at Germany's Fraunhofer Institute for Molecular Biology and Applied Ecology, there's now an alternative: dandelions. Scientists have long known that the weed's sap contains latex, but it's difficult to harvest because dandelion ooze polymerizes — goes gummy — when it hits the air. The Fraunhofer team overcame that sticky problem by switching off a key enzyme. The new, improved dandelion produces 500% more usable latex than the old weed does.

(Time). Add to that the fact that the methanol economy would allow plastics and fuels to literally be made from the air / atmosphere around us, powered by wind, wave, and solar generated electricity, and we can say "the green revolution got game baby"!

We could have the best year ever in 2010 if we really want to. I mean really want to in the sense of rejecting some world destroying bad habits.