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Tuny t1_iuwbg5j wrote

Reply to comment by OdinTheHugger in Researchers fed microalgae on leftover coffee grounds to produce high-quality biodiesel | It could decrease reliance on palm oil to produce biofuel. by chrisdh79

Bro, coffee is the one of the most consumed beverages in the world. Imagine how much of these coffee grounds each cafe produces per day, let alone week, month, year

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sixstringronin t1_iuwft0x wrote

Yeah, literally this. I can't even imagine how much coffee a single Starbucks location goes through in a day.

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Jrook t1_iuwq8ek wrote

I also took this to mean it was a proof of concept. If they can extract something from coffee beans they can do any highly processed food waste

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Artanthos t1_iuwoadw wrote

Collection and consolidation to a processing facility in sufficient quantities to be meaningful could be problematic.

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schrod t1_iuwporm wrote

The best thing to do would be to simplify the process so everyone could produce their own biofuel cutting out both collection costs and distribution costs!

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Artanthos t1_iuxi350 wrote

At that point, why not solar panels and EVs?

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schrod t1_iuyfynw wrote

Why not all these. Wouldn't you like to save your coffee grounds and turn them into something useful, even if it is backup?

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Artanthos t1_iuyk3jx wrote

You are unlikely to have both a diesel vehicle and an EV, and an EV is the greener of the two.

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dontyouflap t1_iuwiev9 wrote

A Google search says 23 billion pounds of coffee are produced per year globally. And the US consumes 860 billion pounds of gasoline a year. So if the coffee grounds are able to produce 1:1 gasoline by weight, not accounting for the energy needed to make it, the entire world's coffee grounds could make enough fuel for 2.6% of America's current needs

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ShaunWhiteIsMyTwin t1_iuwmqva wrote

The headline says it could replace palm oil, not gasoline.

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dontyouflap t1_iuwr3m4 wrote

To make biofuel. Which is used in place of gasoline

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Ansollis t1_iuwthxc wrote

I don't think bio-fuel is a direct replacement for gasoline. Most blends of bio-fuel for cars still has a good chunk of gasoline in it and even then you need a specific kind of car to be able to handle that fuel

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sighbourbon t1_iuwpwze wrote

the grounds are awesome compost, I think it should be returned to the earth

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