Watermelon Juice - the next great automotive fuel?
Corn as a source for ethanol has its problems. While there are a number of backers, there are real issues that need to be addressed, including (but not necessarily limited to) the huge amount of corn required to brew large batches of the alcohol fuel and the large quantities of water needed in the process. A new alternative is just now popping up that may offer at least a partial solution: watermelon juice.
According to Discovery News, 360,000 tons of watermelons are left to rot and spoil each and every year as farmers leave between 20 and 40 percent of their crops on the ground. Why? It seems consumers just won't buy watermelons that don't look quite as attractive as their siblings, whether that's due to an odd shape, smaller size or minor animal damage. Researchers from the United States Department of Agriculture in Lane, Oklahoma, have found that its possible to create ethanol from these unwanted watermelons. We've heard about this potential biomass before.
Though there's only enough watermelon juice available to brew 2.5 million gallons of ethanol (total ethanol production will top 9 billion gallons this year), researchers indicate that the tasty nectar can be used to displace up to 15% of corn or molasses, cut down on water usage and supply needed nitrogen to the mix.
College Station, Texas-based company Common Sense Agriculture, LLC is reportedly working on a prototype plant to produce ethanol from waste watermelons. Company President Jim Rausch points out:
"This is not going to replace corn. In that sense it will remain a niche source of biofuel. But unlike algae biodiesel or cellulosic ethanol, it's a right now thing. There's no new technology that needs to be developed to make it economical."[Source: Discovery News | Image: babasteve - CC 2.0]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Jung 7:11PM (8/28/2009)
I missed the days when I could get a box 1lb of Barilla pasta for $0.33 on sale.
But thanks to the ethanol subsidies jacking up all grains prices, I rarely see them on sale for less than a dollar.
I like my watermelon $2.99 each. Someone is going down if I have to pay $10 for a watermelon.
2.5 million out of 9 billion is like 0.03 percent. Go find another fruit please.
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IK 11:44PM (8/28/2009)
don't worry . barack obama won't let it happen
Jeff R 3:47AM (8/29/2009)
*ROFL
abperezz22 4:40PM (8/29/2009)
@ Jung
You obviously didn't read the entire article carefully. They said 360,000 tons of watermelon is left to rot because imperfections. It is said, that instead of letting those uneaten watermelons rot, why not just use the resources that can be pulled from it. The high demand of ethanol is causing your price of pasta to rise, but if they put this into affect it wouldn't cause a change in your watermelon unless the industry decided to take advantage of the American people. .
Jung 9:54PM (8/29/2009)
@abperezz22
I read it several times before I posted my reply. I didn't want to make my post any lengthier, so I didn't go into any details. But I'll oblige and elaborate my view.
As you claim, sure, it is possible that converting unharvested watermelon will have no impact on the price of watermelon.
But that all depends on the actual costs of converting watermelons into ethanol, and subsequently the amount of government subsidies needed to kick-start the program as well as to sustain it. And I'll bet you a lot of money there will be subsidies given out for alternative energy initiatives like this one. Now the farmers have a whole new channel to which they can sell their watermelons, and at subsidized prices.
Corn farmers only needed roughly $0.40 per gallon in subsidy to make their product competitive with oil companies. But instead, they got $1.50 per gallon in subsidy from the government. Result? higher corn prices go up, along with other grains.
Maybe you're more idealistic than me. But when watermelons (or oranges or other edible fruits) become a source for alternative fuel, their prices will most likely go up. And even without subsidies, their prices will move in tandem with crude oil prices. And that means, in a long run, up.
thin 7:11PM (8/28/2009)
Watermelon powered Chrysler 300C.
What do you think?
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Jung 7:24PM (8/28/2009)
That's totally brilliant....
They can also leverage on how a combustion chamber from a HEMI engine (old ones anyway) and a $2.99 watermelon both have hemispherical shapes. How awesome would that be? A pure marketing gold!
Thomas 8:45PM (8/28/2009)
Eat that Watermelon
Patrick 11:36PM (8/28/2009)
Lol tiger and thin you read my mind...
Randy 7:42PM (8/29/2009)
LOL - That's funny.... But hey, wouldn't Lemons be the ultimate irony in fueling cars? i.e. lemon laws etc...
weather_expert 7:20PM (8/28/2009)
at least your watermelon powered car smells nice.
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nuggetsmcduggets 7:23PM (8/28/2009)
When will these people realize that there simply isn't enough arable land on Earth to support a fruit/grain derived fuel solution for the masses? Why even waste our time with corn, or watermelon? It's futile - focus your energies elsewhere. I know what the counter argument will be to my assertion - 'well, it can help us in the mean time, while we look for a long term, sustainable solution.' Even so, it's still not worth the absolute madness we'd have to put up with in the for-nutrition agriculture industry - subsidies, price controls, etc. Just forget about biofuels, PLEASE.
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Octagon 7:50PM (8/28/2009)
Ethanol can be blended with other petroleum products. So while an "ethanol" only pump is silly (with currently available bio-sources and technology), recycling wasted biomass in to a supplemental product is very feasible. It also means that's X Million gallons less of oil that needs to be used.
It would really be beneficial if multiple sources of "waste" could be considered. That would leave the ethanol industry less dependent on a particular source, i.e. corn and corn prices.
nuggetsmcduggets 8:25PM (8/28/2009)
I'm not arguing the feasibility of converting biomass into a fuel, it just seems impractical to go down this road (ethanol, agro-derivatives) any further than we already have, knowing full well that the best outcome we can possibly hope for will still not the solve the primary problem - not having a legitimate, sustainable alternative to petroleum based fuels.
Judy Zik 10:22PM (8/28/2009)
Amen.
People are still starving. We can't grow enough food to feed all the people on the planet but now we have farmers growing corn strictly to make a few posers think their gas guzzlers are driving green. Food prices are going up as a result and study after study has shown that making Ethanol is worse for the environment than plain old gas. The only reason it exists is because Corn farmers talked governments into subsidizing it so they could get rich.
Kevin 1:55PM (8/29/2009)
@ judy
The reason people are starving in the world has has to do with economics and politics, not how much food farms produce. The farmers of today are more porductive now than any time in the history of man.
Yes the farmers conned the govt into ethanol. Not to get rich but to stay alive. Due to the high productivty of farmers the corn market bottomed out. Farmers needed something todo with the massive amounts of their (at the time) worthless product.
So please lay your strawman down.
TonyInMI 8:05PM (8/28/2009)
WTF? Have Autoblog and AutoblogGreen merged?
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chan625 5:45AM (8/29/2009)
lol it seems so
...but watermelon juice isnt green its red
so now there will be Red parties car lovers will have to face
JML999 8:19PM (8/28/2009)
I heard about this car man.. and it runs on water.
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BrianFL 9:40AM (8/29/2009)
Water! Dontcha know how expensive water is? Ever bought one at da store? A bottle of water is over a dollar. It be mighty expensive if you filled your car up water!!!
J/K LOL