AP answers your questions on the news, from reporters in Gaza to using kudzu as biofuel

Ask AP: Kudzu as biofuel, reporting from Gaza

In parts of the South, it’s everywhere — kudzu, an invasive weed that a lot of people would like to see eradicated. Why not use this overabundant plant to produce some sort of fuel?

Curiosity about the viability of kudzu as a biofuel inspired one of the questions in this edition of “Ask AP,” a weekly Q&A column where AP journalists respond to readers’ questions about the news.

If you have your own news-related question that you’d like to see answered by an AP reporter or editor, send it to newsquestions@ap.org, with “Ask AP” in the subject line. And please include your full name and hometown so they can be published with your question.

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Is anyone reporting from inside Gaza?

Brian Perfect

Chicago

The Associated Press operates a well-staffed bureau in Gaza City, with about a dozen reporters, photographers, cameramen and television producers based permanently in the Gaza Strip.

We augment our coverage from local Palestinian journalists by regularly sending in international staffers from our bureaus in Jerusalem and Ramallah, West Bank. At times we bring in staffers from other countries as well.

A number of other major media outlets maintain permanent offices in Gaza, including Reuters, AFP, BBC and Al-Jazeera.

Steven Gutkin

AP Chief of Bureau

Jerusalem

Has anyone done research into using kudzu for biofuel?

Byron Bowles

Stockton, Mo.

Most efforts today are aimed at trying to kill kudzu, an invasive vine-like weed that has cost billions of dollars in lost crops. However, it has potential as an ingredient for biofuels.

A 2008 study concluded that, under certain conditions, kudzu could produce about 400 liters of ethanol per acre, on par with an acre of corn. The study was conducted by the University of Toronto and the U.S. Agriculture Department’s Agriculture Research Service.

The next step is a large-scale project that could prove using kudzu to make ethanol is economically feasible, University of Toronto Professor Rowan Sage said.

That has yet to occur. One reason could be that investment in many areas of alternative energy virtually dried up as the recession took hold and gas prices fell.

Agrogas, which is based in Cleveland, Tenn., is working to raise capital to finance a project to prove the viability of commercial production of ethanol using kudzu. It already has operated test vehicles using limited quantities.

“It’s quite a usable fuel and we’re making it out of something nobody wants here in the South,” Argogas co-founder Doug Mizell said.

Sandy Shore

AP Energy Writer

Denver

I understood that the government’s program to insure people with pre-existing conditions would start in six months. Does that mean it starts in July? How do I find out how to qualify? Is there a website?

Betsy Gardner

Denver

A new “high-risk” insurance pool for uninsured people with pre-existing medical conditions is supposed to be up and running in July, but the Health and Human Services Department has not yet released details.

To qualify for the program, people must be uninsured for at least six months and have a pre-existing health problem. The coverage will not be free, but premiums will be heavily subsidized and are expected to be more affordable than what’s now available through state high-risk pools. In many places, states will also administer the new federal program.

For details, check the website www.healthreform.gov.

The national high-risk pool is supposed to be temporary. In 2014, insurers will be barred from denying coverage to adults with health problems. For children, that consumer protection will take effect this fall.

Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar

Associated Press Writer

Washington

Have questions of your own? Send them to newsquestions@ap.org.