Creating New Generation Fuels From Weird (and Even Delicious) Ingredients

Hopefully, the days that we fill our gas tanks with refined fossil fuels will soon be a distant memory.

Thanks to the hard work of scientists hunched over their laboratory work stations, some interesting developments are brewing.

In recent news, we've heard that various alternative fuels are being created out of:

• plant matter (such as grasses and cellulosic material)
• orange skin oil (not just for candied holiday treats anymore)
• cocoa nibs
• cow methane
• excrement from zoo animals (and waste generated by visitors)
• waste kiwi fruit

Now, scientists with the Agricultural Research Service in Lane, Oklahoma have determined that waste watermelons -- approximately 800 million pounds per year -- can be transformed into an excellent source of ethanol fuel.

Just one 20 pound watermelon creates 1.4 pounds of sugar which can then be converted into 7/10 of a pound of ethanol.

It's hard to believe that the watermelon industry (like so many others) allows deformed and less than perfect melons to just rot out in the fields rather than cutting them up and selling or donating the perfectly edible fruit.

Lycopene and citrulline (nutritional aids that are believed to help cardiovascular function) are commonly extracted from undesirable watermelons, which is how chemists were able to recognize the energy-potential of the juice within.

Specifically, the fructose, glucose and sucrose inside each melon can be fermented into ethanol, which will certain help farmers generate a new source of income should the technology really take off.

Have you heard about any other interesting alternative fuel sources that are in development? Please share them in the comments section below!