Posted on 12/17/2016 12:45:04 PM PST by nickcarraway
Avocados have never been more prolific: on toast, with eggs, in sandwiches, on salads, and, of course, guacamole. In the past few years the avocado has been crowned the king of fruit.
In addition to our ruinous ecological impact overall, it seems we’re also wasting a large portion of the fruit (26% according to studies): the skin and the pit. The pit of the avocado doesn’t provide any nutrition, but scientists have discovered that it could be the perfect fuel.
The Universities of Córdoba and Almería recently conducted a study on the pit, which has historically been difficult to recycle. The results show that avocado pits have huge potential to be used fING
or fuel both at home and on an industrial scale. Avocado seeds can produce 19,145 megajoules (units of energy) per kilo, which is an optimum value according to researchers.
Efficiency and ecology
As fuel, the avocado pit would be more efficient than almond skins and olive pits which are both currently being used as natural fuels. It could also be used to replace wood, which would be more ecological not only because it would reduce the number of trees being cut down, but also because wood needs to be dried before it can be burnt as fuel – whereas avocado pits are ready to burn.
It’s high time we had a use for the refuse accumulating in hipster cafes across the world. The global consumption of avocados is getting out of control. In the last twenty years, avocado production has risen 139%.
Apart from using them as fuel, we could also start drinking them as infusions or applying them to our hair and skin. It seems their revitalizing properties are endless.
If you burn them, will they release CO2?
Of course, gather them all up every harvest and convert them to fuel. We could probably save one or two barrels of oil per day. What a concept? And, somebody paid for this.
Some years back, I did a back of the envelope calculation using the sum of the annual palm oil production of both Malaysia and Indonesia, and found that it would satisfy US domestic automobile needs for three weeks. Now remember, we are talking about countries drenched in tropical rain, and grow the stuff like it’s going out of style. So anyone who thinks the lowly avacado pit is the answer to our energy demands needs to visit a psychiatrist.
Hmm. No further detail in the article, but how are they used as a fuel? The article implies you can burn them...? Without drying them? I usually throw skins in the compost, but seeds have generally just been useless. If they can go straight in the fireplace, sweet.
It will result in less stuff being put in the landfill and that is a plus.
Right - it’ll take more energy the equivalent of seven gallons of gas to produce one gallon of fuel from those pits. Just like that bio-fuel nonsense.
Remember that idiotic statement by Bush during the SOTU speech where he brought up ‘saw grass’ as a means to ease our fuel crisis?
It was ‘switch grass’ if I remember correctly, and yes, it was an idiotic statement.
biodiesel
Avocado pit.
A big hole to trap avocados.
They do have oil in them so they might help a fire to get going?
I am going to have to experiment. In the summer when I am burning things outdoors. I am not messing my stove up!
Yes you herd them toward the pit!
I never watch any SOTU speech, no matter the president, because they are all bad. That is funny though.
I never watch any SOTU speech, no matter the president, because they are all bad. That is funny though.
That’s a good Palm reading.
Greenie renewable fuel types are rarely grounded in thermodynamic reality. Hence windfarms.
Personally, I’m with Homer:
http://www.matthewbarr.co.uk/sounds/house_laws.wav
(short audio file, 37k)
Can hardly wait for my tree to give me another crop.
Personally, I find avocado oil to be quite useful - for cooking.
For a major transportation liquid fuel for an advanced civilization? Not so much.
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