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I have several dozen acres of wild waiwe trees that have all but killed out the original ohia forest. So I'm considering harvesting them and would like input from others as to what uses or value waiwe has.
I suppose the big timbers can be used for dimensional milling or nonbearing, and the middle size stuff could maybe be made into mortised rails or bed-frames, etc, and the small stuff probably mulch, although those 30 foot long, 1/2 thick trees might have applications if shipped to drier climates. I don't know, maybe some chemist out there might even have some extractive process for getting some kind of medicine out of the tree... anyway, I alone have literally millions of the trees and they are killing off our forest, so it sure would be great if we could do somethingn about it. Mahalo!
aloha
aloha
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Hook up with those of us who are working on biochar. It may well be a gold mine.
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interesting to note that derivatives may well have bio-chem importance:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17571972
Guava leaf extracts were found to inhibit prostrate cancer cells in vitro!
More traditional phyto-chem uses:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18353572
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I've got a couple million guavas killing off my lowland forest acres too.
Come and get 'em.
Assume the best and ask questions.
Punaweb moderator
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At this point, if one would commit to produce guava at less than 100 bucks a ton, green, cut and limbed, mostly, it's nearly commercially viable. Quite close really. I'd produce bio char out of it and sell it for .30 cents a lb. Someone would need to donate a freight container, and it can be ugly, to be the retort. It will get a lot uglier. A site, as well, would be good, like some godforsaken pile of rock out there someplace where the smoke blows off to Tonga. The bio char you could bury in your garden, or burn in your gasifier to run a generator. I will teach you how to build that thing for free. It's a pain in the butt, but it does work, and will make wood into electricity. At these values it is the gasoline equivalent at +/- 6 bucks a gallon. All in all, it isn't great wages, but it solves a lot of problems in Puna in a real way, right away. It is viable. It provides employment for any who would rise from a couch, and it takes care of, completely, the invasive species problem. It makes value out of weed woods, and works for a better future in a real and immediately measurable way. Any supporters? I'll need a hand. Otherwise, I'll just do it on my little scale for myself like I already am, and let the rest of you quarrel about the value of solar panels and electric cars.
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CHARCOAL PRODUCTION
Wow, I suppose you could convert a matson container into a charcoal kiln!
WAIWE GASIFICATION
Lots of good info, and gasification plants can be made off the shelf or purchased for around $2000. You can even buy kits to adapt an engine (car/tractor/generator/stove/propane refridge etc) to burn the gas. Kalapana to Hilo and back on a sack of waiwe chips, wow!? I easily spend 2k a year on fuels...who doesn't? This sure does seem like a good idea outside the rainy season. I'd love to see one of these systems in operation.
WAIWE PHARMA
My understanding is that you macerate the leaves and the fruit and use a hydroalcoholic extraction and refinement process (a low production prototype could be built for <$1k I would think), from which you refine for medicinally important phyto-constituents: phenolic, flavonoid, carotenoid, terpenoid and triterpene.
aloha
aloha
