Everyone is all excited about biofuels today, but can you can guess who said "All the world is waiting for a substitute for gasoline." It was Henry Ford, in 1916. Years ago I read a book called Ford, The Men and the Machines, that among other things detailed the elder Ford's fascination with the mighty soy bean. He did all kinds of experiments with ways to use soy including turning them into all sorts of materials to build cars from, fuels to power them and of course ways to turn soy into food. Many of Ford's soy ideas were well of their time, and have only recently started to gain popularity.
Ford was also fascinated with other innovators and inventors including Thomas Edison and George Washington Carver. Greenfield Village at the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn includes many exhibits dedicated to inventors including a Missouri Slave Cabin modeled after the one Carver was born in. Inside is an exhibit celebrating Carver's work as an agricultural chemist. Carver of course developed so many ways to use peanuts including peanut butter. Follow the Read link to learn a bit more about the some of the biofuel pioneers of the first half of the last century.
[Source: Ford]
Ford was also fascinated with other innovators and inventors including Thomas Edison and George Washington Carver. Greenfield Village at the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn includes many exhibits dedicated to inventors including a Missouri Slave Cabin modeled after the one Carver was born in. Inside is an exhibit celebrating Carver's work as an agricultural chemist. Carver of course developed so many ways to use peanuts including peanut butter. Follow the Read link to learn a bit more about the some of the biofuel pioneers of the first half of the last century.
[Source: Ford]
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