Israeli Researchers Develop Method to Turn Watermelon Waste into Fuel

Desk Report

Published: 29 Jul 2020, 01:57 pm

Israeli researchers have developed a way to use melons for fuel processing, according to Ynet, Israel's news website.

Watermelons residues can be used to generate ethanol, a microbial substitute fuel for cars, according to a recent study undertaken by the University of Haifa (Oranim), Xinhua reports.

Researchers developed ethanol from the Israeli watermelon variety, grown solely for its seeds, as part of the nut industry.

The red (flesh) and green (rind) pieces, which together make up 97% of the watermelon 's weight, are dumped into the fields as excess waste.

During the harvest period , the researchers harvested hundreds of seed strain watermelons and fermented their juice into ethanol.

Researchers claim that bioethanol and biofuels, in general, minimize reliance on fossil fuels such as coal, natural gas and oil, whose supplies are diminishing, and using them produces widespread greenhouse gas emissions.

Ethanol is also the key component in medicinal disinfectants, such as hand sanitizers, meaning that this invention can also be useful throughout the current coronavirus era.

Researchers have noticed that watermelon waste may be used to produce lycopene, a nutritional aid marketed as an antioxidant.

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