'Gasoline' made from watermelon

Hundreds of thousands of tons of watermelons thrown away annually around the world could become a source of fuel for biofuel production.

Ethanol is an alcoholic fuel produced by fermentation and distillation of grains containing starch that can be converted into simple sugars (corn, wheat, barley). In addition, this alcohol is also produced from plants and grass containing cellulose. It is called bioethanol. Ethanol is an additive to increase the Octane value (the measure of detonation ability) and reduce the harmful emissions of gasoline.

According to the Telegraph , every year farmers and super-Americans in the US market remove about one-fifth of the watermelon (360,000 tons) in the field in each crop because they do not meet the standards (with a distorted or bruised shape on the shell). Farmers often turn them into green manure to fertilize the fields. Scientists from the US Department of Agriculture claim that the amount of thrown watermelon can generate nearly 9 million liters of ethanol biofuels.

Dr. Wayne Fish, a scientist from the US Department of Agriculture, confirmed that 50% of discarded watermelons can produce ethanol through fermentation.

' We all know watermelons contain sugar. Our tests show that sugar can be distilled into ethanol . Thus the watermelons that humans dispose of can become a great source of sugar for biofuel production. On average, the amount of unqualified watermelon per hectare in watermelon fields can produce about 90 liters of ethanol. Yet throughout the years they have been treated as garbage , "he said.

Western countries are encouraging the production of biofuels to replace fossil fuels. The European Union wants biofuels to account for 5.75% of the total fuel for transport in 2010. However, experts predict this goal is difficult to implement.