Melon Ethanol
How about a nice juicy slice of – ethanol?
The National Watermelon Association is preparing for some research with USDA, the University of Georgia and an ethanol plant in Florida to use the estimated 700 million pounds of watermelons that are wasted each year for ethanol production.
“We’re really excited about this,” says Watermelon Association Executive Director Bob Morrissey. “This could be a brand new market for watermelon growers.”
Listen to this report from one of my favorite people, USDA Radio reporter Gary Crawford. 
Melon Ethanol (1 min MP3)
Also, here is a link to a really good story about this potential ethanol feedstock from the Florida Fruit and Vegetable Association publication Harvester.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (911.8KB)
3 Comments »
Ethanol’s new biomass: watermelons « Vroom Vroom
[...] Ok, we know that technically any plant product can be made into ethanol. But the list of plant biomass that researchers are actively working on converting to ethanol is getting pretty long as well. We have the obvious ones – corn and soybeans – but also poplar trees, grapes, citrus fruit and now, watermelons. The National Watermelon Association (c”mon, you knew there was a NWA, right? It”s only been around since 1914) announced it will begin research with the USDA, the University of Georgia and an ethanol plant in Florida so that the estimated 700 million pounds of watermelons that are wasted each year can be used for ethanol production. This story says that the each year about 20-25 percent of the nation”s watermelon crop is left on the ground. This is because there comes a time when harvesting the few ripe melons left in the fields is not profitable. Also, visually blemished melons are left to rot. If we can use watermelons to power felx-fuel cars, will spitting seeds out the tail pipe become the new American summer game? Related: [...]
Ethanol’s new biomass: watermelons « Envautomental
[...] Ok, we know that technically any plant product can be made into ethanol. But the list of plant biomass that researchers are actively working on converting to ethanol is getting pretty long as well. We have the obvious ones – corn and soybeans – but also poplar trees, grapes, citrus fruit and now, watermelons. The National Watermelon Association (c”mon, you knew there was a NWA, right? It”s only been around since 1914) announced it will begin research with the USDA, the University of Georgia and an ethanol plant in Florida so that the estimated 700 million pounds of watermelons that are wasted each year can be used for ethanol production. This story says that the each year about 20-25 percent of the nation”s watermelon crop is left on the ground. This is because there comes a time when harvesting the few ripe melons left in the fields is not profitable. Also, visually blemished melons are left to rot. If we can use watermelons to power felx-fuel cars, will spitting seeds out the tail pipe become the new American summer game? Related: [...]
Barbara Wunder
Spitting watermelon seeds would have an audience, I think! Thanks for the plug about my article in Harvester Online. If you notice anything that’s innacurate, I’d appreciate a heads-up. Thanks.
Comments RSS feed — TrackBack URI
Leave a Comment