雪佛龙宣布与得克萨斯A&M AgriLife合作，探索将花生作为可再生燃料来源。
该公司表示，这一合作将有助于为得州农民创造新的经济机会，同时支持雪佛龙到2030年将其可再生燃料生产能力提高到每天10万桶的努力。
雪佛龙公司表示，花生“容易口渴”，该公司强调，一种典型的作物需要27英寸的水分，来自灌溉和雨水，才能生产出每英亩约5000磅的高质量坚果。该公司概述说，这项合作的研究包括开发含油量更高的花生，以适应更干燥的气候，并补充说，AgriLife打算培育一种“更容易淬火”的“柴油坚果”。
雪佛龙指出，如果成功，该项目可以使以前种植花生但缺水的地区恢复生产。根据AgriLife Research的数据，美国约20%的花生产量在得克萨斯州，使其成为美国第二大花生产地。
得克萨斯A&M AgriLife Research研究机构主任Cliff Lamb在公司声明中说：“我们希望这些新的花生品种将为生产者提供有利可图的旱地或有限的灌溉作物选择。”
得州花生生产者委员会执行董事Shelly Nutt 说：“得州花生生产者委员会很高兴支持'柴油坚果'项目，并将其视为得州农民的又一工具。”
曹海斌 摘译自 钻机地带
原文如下：
Chevron Exploring Peanuts as Renewable Fuel Source
Chevron has announced that it is working with Texas A&M AgriLife to explore peanuts as a renewable fuel source.
The company said the collaboration will help create new economic opportunities for Texas farmers while supporting Chevron’s efforts to increase its renewable fuel production capacity to 100,000 barrels per day by 2030.
Peanuts “tend to be thirsty”, according to Chevron, which highlighted that a typical crop needs 27 inches of moisture from irrigation and rain to produce about 5,000 pounds per acre of high-quality nuts. The company outlined that the collaboration’s research includes the development of peanuts with a greater oil content that can adapt to drier climates, adding that AgriLife intends to breed a ‘diesel nut’ “that can be more easily quenched”.
If successful, the project could bring production back to areas that previously grew peanuts but ran out of water, Chevron pointed out. Approximately 20 percent of the U.S. peanut crop is produced in Texas, making it the second-largest peanut-producing state in the United States, according to AgriLife Research.
“We are hopeful that these new peanut varieties will offer producers a profitable dryland or limited irrigation crop option,” Cliff Lamb, the director of Texas A&M AgriLife Research, said in a company statement.
Texas Peanut Producers Board Executive Director Shelly Nutt said, “the Texas Peanut Producers Board is excited to support the ‘diesel nut’ project and views it as one more tool for farmers in Texas”.
