Rubber from the Dandelion Weed

[Peterae]

During the Second world war when Britain got cut of from the Rubber plantations a new method of Rubber manufacture was implemented to make the rubber components for the war machine.

I could find very little information on the subject but have found a patent dated 1946.

It is an amazingly simple process with the end result of a very pure rubber and as part of the process the carbohydrate & sugars are also extracted which can then be fermented to make Ethanol Alcohol.

So we have a weed that grows better than any crop, provides easily extracted rubber and can fuel carsl 

Food for thought, i see that people are becoming aware of it's potentials and there seem to be a flurry of new patents, although this patent appears to be good enough to have a system in place.

1 Plant = tyres + fuel & looks to be environmentally favourable.

Here's the patent

[Paul-R]

...and they are very nutritious:

http://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/vegetables-and-vegetable-products/2441/2

[Peterae]

Hi Paul
indeed they are, good point, we eat the leaves freshly picked from the garden sometimes, so we better add a food crop to the list as well just before picking for rubber & ethanol.

Peter

[Grumage]

Dear Peter.

In Culpepper's days it was commonly known as "Piss a bed" . The Dandelion was used as a diuretic.

I used to make  Dandelion coffee from the sun dried roots, no caffeine, but a tasty brew, non the less.

Just watch you don't eat too many leaves. The consequences could be dire !! 

Cheers Graham.

[Peterae]

LOL yeah i heard that one and yes forgot about the coffee.

[giantkiller]

I thought this was a great idea until I realized I sprayed with weed be gone. 

[Slider2732]

Wait now...so a dandelion could also be useful for your conductive glue experiments too Peter ?
The white stuff that comes out from the plant stem is what they use ?
A dandy lion of a simple effective process I hope.

I best read that Patent, how cool is that !

I'm going to try some as a binding agent in a salts cell in about 5 minutes 

[Peterae]

Ha ha
Do you know it is exactly what i want to try, and that is what spurred me to post about the Dandelion, i will indeed try the latex with the carbon.

Be careful, i have been reading about rubber, and there can be chemicals in the impure latex that can cause an allergic reaction and also cause Asmer, you can slowly develop more and more severe reaction if constantly exposed, so wear some glove protection, i am not sure if these chemicals are in the dandelion that was regarding rubber tree, but be carefull anyway.

[Slider2732]

I think giantkiller has been around to our house too
Not a single one anywhere !


Still, it's not like they're rare things...will take a pair of washing up gloves and a Walmart bag on our next evening walk...then again, that might bring an arrest for suspicious behaviour around here.
"Collecting dandelions are we sir, hmm"

I've just asked my wife if these things are seasonal at all and seemingly not. She said she's only seen a couple of them all year though. Isn't it amazing what our women folk take notice of.

[Peterae]

LOL
Just knock on some doors and say for 20$ you will eradicate all the dandelion plants for them  

I hear this years Dandelion wine could be a good one  

and once the sugars are extracted maybe we can start a new high alcohol dandelion version of bootleg whiskey  

OH and 1 other thing, i just found out Latex has a dielectric constant of 24, so we better add a new brand of capacitor to the list which is over 12 times better than polypropylene film capacitors.

[giantkiller]

Well now. I can get drunk while making trillions of dollars on new Green, Earth friendly, Ultra charge Capacitors? I smell a grant, a kickstarter deal, and alot of toasting! I think I'll start a patent process on this. Pick some weeds. Make some goo. Lay some sheets and roll them up. Ya know Celestial seasonings tea company here in Boulder started out picking weeds too. They are worth millions. Frank Zappa wrote a song about this too. Montana. A dental floss tycoon.
Ooooh, Take the goo and make 'paint on', rubber band aids! Of course dye will be added to accommodate different lifestyles and ages. Another patent! Call them Nature wraps! Boom! Another million!

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/dandelion-wine/

LOL
Just knock on some doors and say for 20$ you will eradicate all the dandelion plants for them  

I hear this years Dandelion wine could be a good one  

and once the sugars are extracted maybe we can start a new high alcohol dandelion version of bootleg whiskey  

OH and 1 other thing, i just found out Latex has a dielectric constant of 24, so we better add a new brand of capacitor to the list which is over 12 times better than polypropylene film capacitors.

[Slider2732]

Haha...  
Say, I don't know if it was all a daft idea or not, but I was doing something similar to your capacitor idea last week. Cut the top off an electrolytic, dry out the internals in the sun for a few days, immerse again in a self made electrolyte and try it out. I seemed to get just the same results as when the original electrolyte was inside, so who knows, probably the drying didn't wipe it clean so to speak.
(just been out to buy some 20 Mule Borax for another go)

Thinking about weeds, all the flowers cures and stuff around, what about the common weeds ?
Is that all Pagan no no land ?
So, bonus points for identifying this stuff in the pic below....we've got loads of it and the blue flowers it blooms with will probably be a cure for cancer or something.
More importantly, can I make wine with it ?  

Edit, oh, just remembered. We've been painting the front of the house and it's a latex paint. What do I do with it ? 
I mean, put an aluminium sheet each side of the dried paint ? can I make my house into a really big supercap ?

[Peterae]

I don't know what that weed is.

Regarding the latex, you want it sandwiched in between 2 metal plates, if you google dielectric capacitor construction you should find a lot of info on the net.
I will have a go at this myself in a couple of days, i want to test various common odds and ends for dielectric constants.

[giantkiller]

Solar panels with capacitive storage on back side.
Storage pillars and panels along outside of buildings.