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In a striking new study conducted by Man Misra, Susanta Mohapatra, and Narasimharao Kondamudi, it was found that one of the major bottle necks for the production of bio-diesel has always been sources of low-cost, quality feedstock. However, the “oil weight” of "spent coffee estates," which determines the options of growing such feedstock, was found to be about 10 to 11% and is comparable to those lands that grow soya bean oil, rapeseed and palm.
To prove this, the scientists extracted the oil from the spent coffee grounds. They then employed a relative simply and inexpensive process to convert 100% of that oil into biodiesel.
According to the research, about 16 billion pounds of coffee is produced throughout the world each year. That's a lot of land being used for such growth. The spent grounds that come about after the production of espresso, java, etc. often wind up as trash and the left-over “unusable land” at best is used for soil conditioning. If such land can be use for growing low-cost, high quality feedstock for bio-diesel, it can account for a whopping US$8 million a year in the U.S alone. The researchers also pointed out that there is a potential to generate about 340 million gallons of biodiesel that can be fed to world’s raging need for energy.
As the annual production mark for bio-diesel hits the 3 billion mark by 2010, more sources of feedstock and possible lands to grow this feedstock from are required. Biodiesel is a growing market is now seen as one of the most evident alternative sources of energy which can stand in when we see a rapid depletion of the ever popular fossil fuels.
