Coffee Diesal

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Web address:
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/12/
081210171900.htm
Waste Coffee Grounds Offer New Source Of Biodiesel Fuel
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Waste coffee grounds can provide a cheap, abundant source of biodiesel
fuel (shown), researchers say. (Credit: Narasimharao Kondamudi,
University of Nevada-Reno)

ScienceDaily (Dec. 15, 2008) — Researchers in Nevada are reporting
that waste coffee grounds can provide a cheap, abundant, and
environmentally friendly source of biodiesel fuel for powering cars
and trucks.

In the new study, Mano Misra, Susanta Mohapatra, and Narasimharao
Kondamudi note that the major barrier to wider use of biodiesel fuel
is lack of a low-cost, high quality source, or feedstock, for
producing that new energy source. Spent coffee grounds contain between
11 and 20 percent oil by weight. That's about as much as traditional
biodiesel feedstocks such as rapeseed, palm, and soybean oil.

Growers produce more than 16 billion pounds of coffee around the world
each year. The used or "spent" grounds remaining from production of
espresso, cappuccino, and plain old-fashioned cups of java, often wind
up in the trash or find use as soil conditioner. The scientists
estimated, however, that spent coffee grounds can potentially add 340
million gallons of biodiesel to the world's fuel supply.

To verify it, the scientists collected spent coffee grounds from a
multinational coffeehouse chain and separated the oil. They then used
an inexpensive process to convert 100 percent of the oil into
biodiesel.

The resulting coffee-based fuel — which actually smells like java —
had a major advantage in being more stable than traditional biodiesel
due to coffee's high antioxidant content, the researchers say. Solids
left over from the conversion can be converted to ethanol or used as
compost, the report notes. The scientists estimate that the process
could make a profit of more than $8 million a year in the U.S. alone.
They plan to develop a small pilot plant to produce and test the
experimental fuel within the next six to eight months.

Biodiesel is a growing market. Estimates suggest that annual global
production of biodiesel will hit the 3 billion gallon mark by 2010.
The fuel can be made from soybean oil, palm oil, peanut oil, and other
vegetable oils; animal fat; and even cooking oil recycled from
restaurant French fry makers. Biodiesel also can be added to regular
diesel fuel. It also can be a stand-alone fuel, used by itself as an
alternative fuel for diesel engines.

Journal reference:

1. Kondamudi et al. Spent Coffee Grounds as a Versatile Source of
Green Energy. Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, 2008;
081201155446010 DOI: 10.1021/jf802487s

Adapted from materials provided by American Chemical Society.
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American Chemical Society (2008, December 15). Waste Coffee Grounds
Offer New Source Of Biodiesel Fuel. ScienceDaily. Retrieved December
15, 2008, from http://www.sciencedaily.com­ /releases/
2008/12/081210171900.htm