Nevada team converts coffee grounds to biodiesel; says Starbucks could produce 3 Mgy from its waste, plus pellet-stove fuel

January 23, 2008

In Nevada, a chemical and engineering team at the University of Nevada has developed a process to convert used coffee grounds to biodiesel. The researchers says that up to 3 million gallons of biodiesel could be produced annually just from the 100,000 tons of coffee ground produced by Starbucks each year. The team said that it concludes that the coffee-ground oil feedstock would cost between $0.45 to $1.84 less than feedstocks such as corn or soy, is more stable than comparable feedstock oils, and the grounds can be further processed into fuel for pellet stoves.

In August, the U.S. Agriculture Department awarded $19.5 million in loan guarantees to Appling County Pellets for a wood pellet fuel plant in Appling County, Georgia.

  • Today in Biofuels: Florida awards $25 million to next-gen biofuels projects; EU to issue palm oil biodiesel ban, tariff on US; algae car demo’d at Sundance Festival; exposé on Brazilian sugarcane industry to air on Bloomberg
  • Top Story:The Florida state government awarded grants totaling $25 million to 12 next-gen biofuel projects as the state moves forward with its Farm-to-Fuel goal of producing 25 percent of Florida's en...
  • Wood pellet sales up 3300 percent in 2008 for Home Depot northern division; pellet backlog, manufacturers adding capacity frantically
  • In Michigan, wood pellet manufacturers are reporting brisk business with homeowners despite a 5.4 percent price increase this year. A local Michigan provider says that his back orders have reached 44 ...
  • Grease thief apprehended in Nevada as biodiesel feedstock crime wave spreads
  • In Nevada, a 49-year old man was arrested for stealing grease from a Burger King grease trap, intending to convert the grease into biodiesel reportedly to convert into biodiesel fuel. Burger King has...
  • Ethiopia to increase sugarcane ethanol production, ethanol stove distribution in bid to counter intolerable kerosene stove fuel costs
  • In Ethiopia, the national government said that it intends to increase ethanol production capacity to 34 Mgy from four sugarcane ethanol plants in Methara, Wonji, Finchaa and Tendaho, while the Gaia As...
  • Ethiopian ethanol stove program wins Ashden Award for reducing deforestation
  • In Ethiopia, the Gaia Association, won an Ashden Award for its ethanol stoves distributed to residents of Kebribeyah Refugee Camp. The ethanol cookstove, designed in Sweden and distributed by Gaia, wa...
  • Cyanobacteria to ethanol process discovered by Hawaii research team
  • In Hawaii, University of Hawai'i Professor Pengchen "Patrick" Fu has developed a technology that converts cyanobacteria to ethanol, and has patented the process based on carbon dioxide, sunlight and s...

    Comments

    Got something to say?

    You must be logged in to post a comment.