William Atkins
Tuesday, 16 December 2008 21:28
Science -
Energy
Page 2 of 3
According to the ScienceDaily article “Waste Coffee Grounds Offer New Source Of Biodiesel Fuel,” “
That's about as much as traditional biodiesel feedstocks such as rapeseed, palm, and soybean oil.”
The Nevada researchers collected waste coffee grounds from an international coffee company (we
think it's Starbucks). They separated the oil and used an inexpensive process to convert all of the oil—100% of it—into biodiesel.
The researchers also report that the solid remains left over from the process can be processed into ethanol, or used as a compost.
The researchers stated that the high-grade coffee-based biofuel was more stable than other types of biodiesel fuels because of the coffee’s high content of antioxidants within the residual oil.
It is so stable that the researchers predict it can be used for industrial applications.
The authors report that the process used in the study yielded 10 to 15% of oil depending on the type of coffee used.
They added,
“The biodiesel derived from the coffee grounds (100% conversion of oil to biodiesel) was found to be stable for more than 1 month under ambient conditions.”
Based on their research, the authors contend that 340 million gallons of biodiesel can be produced around the world each year from coffee grounds--that is, after we drink the coffee.
Page three concludes.
