first the cane toad, now this

[markat23dotcom]

Good news for pipers in Australia's top end:

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010 ... 791660.htm

100,000 hectares! A dozen tubes would sort me out in the short term.

[s1m0n]

Arundo donax is a known weed in parts of Australia and propagates in water.

Mr Bjorenak says the company has taken this into account.

"You never take this plant to water," he said.

"We will never grow close to a river bed; 300 metres at the closest."

That was the precaution in place to ensure that Asian/Bighead Carp could be safely farmed in the southern US without risking the biosphere. The plan worked great, but only until the 1993 floods connect the isolated ponds to the mississippi watershed. Now vast sums are being expended trying to keep them out of the Great lakes basin, where it's feared they can wipe out a ton of native and economically far more valuable species.

Asian carp may wipe out Great Lakes.

[markat23dotcom]

A short list of things introduced to Australia which it would likely have been better off without:

goats
rabbits
foxes
camels
cane toads
arundo donax
myself

[tommykleen]

A short list of things introduced to Australia which it would likely have been better off without:

goats
rabbits
foxes
camels
cane toads
arundo donax
myself

Yes, these things never work out. They always escape. Here's a relevant exchange from The Simpsons regarding the effects of introductions and counter introductions:

Lisa: ...But isn’t that a bit short-sighted? What happens when we’re overrun by lizards?

Skinner: No problem. We simply unleash wave after wave of Chinese needle snakes. They’ll wipe out the lizards.

Lisa: But aren’t the snakes even worse?

Skinner: Yes, but we’re prepared for that. We’ve lined up a fabulous type of gorilla that thrives on snake meat.

Lisa: But then we’re stuck with gorillas!

Skinner: No, that’s the beautiful part. When winter time rolls around, the gorillas simply freeze to death.

TK

[amckay]

My understanding is that existing methods to convert spanish cane into biofuel (gassification) were not feasible. Some research papers I've read basically say that the energy spent converting vs energy gained is too high. This even included models where the processing plant was located next to the cane field so that energy consumption in transportation was reduced. Tis a shame really, because one article was saying that cane would make a great fuel to due its fast growth rate (high harvest yields), ability to lock carbon into the soil, and the fact its not a food source such as corn. Unless there have been improvements in processing tech, I wonder how these guys are going to turn a profit...

[Ted]

Seems a process has been developed using some sort of yeast or bacteria which produce hydrogen as a biproduct of digesting the biomass.

[MTGuru]

A short list of things introduced to Australia which it would likely have been better off without:

...
myself

Yes, these things never work out. They always escape.

Hey Mark ... get back in your cage!!

[Patrick D'Arcy]

I just wanted to recognize the best avatar thus far in webdom.....

markat23dotcom


Thank you and congratulations,

Patrick.

[markat23dotcom]

All credit to Brian Vallely, without whom I would never have been in the Armagh City Hotel at four in the morning, drinking one pint while warming up another, with no idea where my camera was. And, that night was the first time I played the pipes (An Phis Fhliuch) in a session in the wild. One of the all time great nights.

[TheSilverSpear]

Mark, Any chance of you coming back to this side of the planet in the near future?

Willie Clancy Week beckons.

[markat23dotcom]

Mark, Any chance of you coming back to this side of the planet in the near future?

Willie Clancy Week beckons.

Check your email for details concerning markat23dotcom World Tour 2010...