A simple solution for cleaning up the oil slick in the Gulf. Cheap, too.
Did you see how much hay they put in that little bowl? Now try to figure out how many bales of hay you would need to cart out to the spill. A bale of hay is pretty big. How many hay bales do you think you can get on the average boat like the ones you see out there.
Now figure out how much the cost of hay will go up to ranchers who buy the hay to feed their cattle.
That looked a lot like two guys figuring out how to deep fry hay.
Next year’s surprise hit at the Iowa State Fair.
1 cup oil absorbed by 1/4 lb hay
= US cups oil /lb hay -> 4.00
= US cups oil /tonne hay -> 8,000.00
= US gallons oil / tonne hay -> 500.00
= US barrels oil / tonne hay -> 15.87
= 5,000 barrels per day -> 79,365 tonnes hay
= 5,000 barrels per day -> 6,614 trailer loads hay (estimated)
Wonder which would cause more environmental damage to the coastline, the oil or the trucks?
Not counting that you are going to need to more than double to remove the soaked hay.
Compared to the cost to deliver, spread, collect and remove, the cost of the hay is incidental.