Wow, these guys have a cheap and green solution to the oil spill

[Trailrider1951]

They propose to use hay. Check out their video:

http://www.wimp.com/solutionoil/

It seems to work!

[MrScorpio]

1. Simple and green

Love it!

[madmax]

2. That is pretty amazing

eco-friendly, cheap, no toxic chemicals. Sounds good.

DU- Any negatives?

[robinlynne]

3. THIS IS FANTASTIC!!!! watch it.

[piratefish08]

4. Halliburton makes money 'how' with this solution?? Exactly.

next idea please.

[Newest Reality]

5. It seems that the free market

has determined that the only viable solutions will be those that are profitable to large corporations ... so it seems.

So, who has shares in hay these days? ;)

[Webster Green]

6. Holy shit! Put these guys in charge of the cleanup NOW!

Amazing! :wow:

[bluethruandthru]

7. Someone "in charge" needs to see this! n/t

[KamaAina]

8. Supposedly hay was used in Santa Barbara in '69

maybe if Monsanto could patent a special Oil Ready(TM) hay, the powers that be might be interested. :eyes:

[liberal N proud]

9. Since it is cheap and does not involve a huge corporation...

It will never be allowed to succeed.

[csziggy]

10. There would not be enough hay and straw to handle that much oil

I posted this before but here it is again:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=8347409&mesg_id=8347456
Hay is cut summer through fall - most hay cut is used up over the winter, so there is little in storage now. Some grain crops, such as rye and oats, that are grown over the winter in some areas, can have their stalks cut for straw in the spring, but even that would be in relatively low supply.

For the last several years, hay and straw have been in pretty short supply, especially in the Southeast. Between drought and hurricanes it has been either too dry or too wet to get a good crop. Too dry, the grasses and grains do not grow. Too wet, once cut, they cannot be cured for baling. If baled too wet, fermentation in the compacted bales can ignite the bales and cause fires that are difficult to put out. Last spring, even waste hay for controlling erosion at construction sites was hard to find.

Even if we used the entire season of hay, leaving none for livestock, I doubt there would be enough produced in the entire country for soaking up this oil.

Other techniques, mentioned in posts here, would be more effective. Sending in super tankers to suck up the majority of the surface oil combined with various chemicals to either disperse or solidify the oil left in the water sounds seems to me to be more feasible. But BP and/or the US government is not allowing the supertankers that Shell Oil offered to do their job.



By the way, the "hay solution" has been posted here numerous times before.

[hayu_lol]

12. With that kind of volume...

how does one dispose of all that oil-soaked hay?

Oil contamination is contamination wherever it is placed.

[csziggy]

21. They could probably process oil soaked hay along with other biomass stuff

To make a hybrid biofuel. But the volume would be immense. And since the crude oil is a toxic substance, think of the number of haszmat suits that people would have to wear. I could see the hay idea being used for localized clean up, but not at the volume needed as this mess reaches more and more of the Gulf shores.

It is already in the upper 80s here along the Gulf Coast, and it will be much warmer the longer this goes on. Hazmat suits will become a hazard in themselves as people working in them get overheated and succumb to heat exhaustion. Spreading and raking up hay and straw is hard enough without adding a big rubber suit to the mix. I've done it in Florida summers without the suit and it is a killer.

[ChiciB1]

31. I Think the Video Mentioned Something About Burning It After It's Soaked Up!

THEY want to do the work, and it seems THEY have at least some sort of solution, but THEY aren't the BIG guys!!

What are the odds?? I know how I would be betting!!

[loudsue]

15. It doesn't HAVE TO BE "either / or" . If hay works, put some damned hay

wherever it would do the most good at the moment, and use the other options for the bigger cleanups that are not immediately as dangerous or insidious.

:banghead: This country loves to operate on half of a thought these days.

[csziggy]

23. I don't object to using it for localized clean up

But even a few miles of shore will need huge amounts of hay or straw distributed and then picked up and disposed of. The type of shoreline that most need it are not nice flat sandy beaches but the partially submerged mangrove swamps - hard to get into and even harder to try to spread and gather materials.

Then add in the heat - it is already in the mid to upper 80s here - and the need for hazmat suits which will become a hazard to the workers because of the heat.

No possible solution should be ignored - I think we will need everything we can come up with. But the people implementing the solutions have to be pragmatic.

I've spread hay and straw and cleaned it up when it was soiled. It's a lot of work and disposal is a pain even when it is fully biodegradable.

[notadmblnd]

17. We always have to have a negative Nellie, don't we?

You're not thinking big enough. We can involve other countries and perhaps other materials in purchasing hays and grasses. What do you mean there's not enough? Start experimenting with sagebrush or any other grasses that grow abundantly wild. Hell, if the stuff that grows in the medians of highways around here have the same properties that cause the straw to work, and is usable, supplies are limitless. IMO, this could go along way in pulling our country out of this economic depression, Several industries, corporations and hundred of thousands of individuals could make money off this tragedy. Someone needs to check out that kudzu stuff they have so much of down south.

I can even see the world media'S headlineS; US MOWS ITS LAWN TO SAVE THE OCEAN

[Lorien]

26. Good points all. And it would be great if something like Spanish moss could work also

the stuff is a plague here in the South. The idea of using the "spent" hay as fuel is an ideal solution; just cart the stuff into municipal power plants! Have those who harvest the oil soaked hay get paid for the fuel they bring in-by BP & Halliburtan, no less. Everyone wins except the crooks who caused the disaster in the first place.

[Control-Z]

35. Yes. You are so right, imo.

Seasons are not the same above and below the equator. And the countries on the equator have a pretty constant summer. What is not in abundance during US springtime can certainly be in other countries. And, in truth, this is not just an American catastrophe. It will become a global disaster without some sound immediate solutions.

There is only one reason I can think of that we would restrict incoming help. $$$ How will BP make money if they are paying other countries and businesses to help clean up?

It seems like this could be a good financial opportunity for some poorer countries and struggling businesses. I'm no expert, and I'm sure someone will shoot me down for saying this, but to me, it just makes sense.

[Kablooie]

36. But it could be part of the solution. They will need every technique they can devise to get it all.

[Greyhound]

11. Anybody know some really rich people? This is both simple and cheap enough to, at least,

run a larger scale test. A mere multi-millionaire could drop and pick up a few tons of hay, in some relatively isolated spot of the slick and see how much it removes, for a few thousand dollars.

If it works, the person gets millions in free publicity and accolades, if not, it isn't going to change their lifestyle.

[kctim]

22. Al Gore?

Sean Penn? M. Moore? Oprah?

[Greyhound]

32. Any of them could do this easily enough. Who will step up?

:kick:

[PinkSunset]

13. Hope the right people see this! (nt)

nt

[AnArmyVeteran]

14. Two farmers know more about oil than every oil executive on the planet!

It's amazing how clueless BP, Transocean and Halliburton are. And they make billions. Our world is turned upside down and so filled with corruption. Those who actually produce things get paid the least, while those who produce the least get paid the most.

Congrats to these two guys and their brilliant idea. But if some big corporation can't make hundreds of millions off of this idea it won't be used.


Hay Soaking Up Oil Video:
http://www.wimp.com/solutionoil /

[notadmblnd]

18. I imagine they use a lot of oil on a farm

so they've had to learn how to deal with many small spills over the years. I can't even begin to imagine one of these robber baron oil executives even changing the oil in a car.

[AnArmyVeteran]

20. Cheney had no experience in oil, but he because Halliburton's CEO

Cheney's only experience with oil was having his chauffeur pull his limo into a full service gas station and having it filled up. Halliburton hired Cheney because Cheney could funnel billions of dollars of our money into Halliburton's treasury. They hired a thief.

I really believe the US is doomed. Obama doesn't seem to have the balls to be the people's advocate. And I was one of his delegates in Austin... (sad)

[notadmblnd]

24. Well I think maybe it's time to get some of our moeny back!

BTW, been running across a lot of your posts lately; I like the way you think.

[AnArmyVeteran]

25. Thanks for that... we not only need to take our money back, but also our government & our country.

[AnArmyVeteran]

33. Oil Executive changing his own oil: LOLOLOL!!!

I doubt they would know how...

[Lorien]

28. Aye, there's the rub. Getting around the corporate profit motivation

the government would have to order BP to use this method, and with industry lobbyists calling the shots that's not likely to happen. Out of work fishermen should be put to work hauling out hay and grass clippings into the gulf-but there's so many common sense solutions being purposely ignored these days.

[notadmblnd]

16. This could be a huge money maker for a lot of people

farmers all over the country, shrimp boats, oil recycling centers, refiners, summer jobs for kids cleaning up straw from the beach. BP needs to pay all these folks. There should be plenty to go around!

[Lorien]

29. +1. nt

[Parker CA]

19. That is incredible. This should be sent to KO and Maddow. Get it some real exposure. nt

[RT Atlanta]

27. K&R

We've been missing this good ole American ingenuity - kudos to the guys!

[underseasurveyor]

30. Dog grooming and hair cutting salons across the country are collecting hair

to be used to make oil absorbing booms out of. Hair absorbs oil very well;-)

Whatever works.. use them all.

[many a good man]

34. Small MO biofuel company has a great solution

Show Me Energy Cooperative of Centerview, Missouri makes an agricultural biomass product that can absorb 800 gallons of oil per ton. Blowers attached to boats can apply the cellulose at the rate of 10-20 tons per surface acre of water depending on oil thickness. Soon after, the cellulose and oil combination can be skimmed off. Once removed, the oil can be extracted and used by local diesel refineries. Existing gasification power plants can burn the remaining cellulose to generate electricity.

The cooperative's biomass pellet is environmentally safe and an ample supply is available for immediate use. Steve Flick, Show Me's board chairman, says they know their product can't take care of the whole problem. "Whether it's our biofuel pellet, grass hay, peat moss, etc., applying biomass to the oil spill is one cleanup strategy that will cause little harm and can be implemented right away along the coastlines. With sufficient logistical support, America's farmers could quickly supply many kinds of suitable biomass to our fishermen."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aZw_bs4WdA0

[Name removed]

37. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Karenina]

38. Here's another.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CRvOOHxusrg

[baldguy]

39. That won't work!

It won't allow Halliburton to make obscene profits off of it!