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I cannot say that I am shocked these days when I find innovative fuel source ideas for our autos, but when stumbling upon the idea of using watermelons as fuel, I was shocked and intrigued. The green movement in the automotive industry has given us some innovations in fuel technology that 20 years ago seemed impossible. From electric autos to the use of corn and soybeans to produce E85, the automotive industry and in turn our surrounding environment are as clean as they have been in over 100 years. Watermelons seem a bit strange, even in the context of the green movement, but it’s not as farfetched as I had first believed.
A New Biofuel
As mentioned above, the idea of using watermelons as a source of fuel is exactly like using corn or soybeans. By using the process of fermentation, many natural sources that contain sugar that are commonly grown for human consumption can be converted into ethanol (alcohol), which in turn can be processed into automotive fuel. In other words, as long as a potential source of fuel contains sucrose, fructose or glucose, it can be converted into cellular energy and hence, ethanol. The product is typically E85 or a fuel that is 85 per cent ethanol that can be run in modern engines specifically designed to run it and traditional fuels that contain 10 per cent ethanol, for example.
Scientists looking to extract an antioxidant from watermelons came up with the idea of using the watermelon’s sugary juices to produce ethanol. It is generally believed that watermelons contain the highest natural sugar content of any fruit, with very high levels of a glucose based sugar. For watermelon lovers, this may come as a surprise, as typically a watermelon’s flavour is more watery than anything else. In other words, watermelon juices contain so much sugar that it is perfect for fermentation and hence, as a potential source of biofuel.
A Feasible Biofuel?
Many of us living in rural areas of North America are more than familiar with the miles upon miles of corn and soybean fields, but not “fields” of watermelon vines. However, in places where watermelons are grown in mass quantity, roughly a fifth of a year’s annual crop goes unused. Like any other fruit, some watermelons are just not appealing to the consumer due to scarring, a rouge insect making a new home or simply an odd shape. For example, one of the scientists involved figured that one acre of watermelon growth yields roughly 60 to 100 tons of watermelon and a fifth of that growth may turn out to be quite substantial depending on the size of the field.
In order to test the feasibility of watermelons as a ready source of fuel, the scientists collected unused watermelons from one acre of land. After chopping up the melons and fermenting them, they managed to produce 23 gallons (87 litres) of pure ethanol. In comparison, 439 gallons of ethanol can be produced from a single acre of corn, while an astonishing 552 gallons of ethanol can be produced from an acre of sugar beets. In other words, it may not be economically feasible to haul unused watermelons to an ethanol processing facility for mass production of ethanol.
Home Brew
With those comparisons in mind, it would appear as if watermelons are not exactly the best source of ethanol for biofuels. However, the scientists who conducted the study still found a positive note. Watermelon growers can utilize their unused melons to make their own ethanol. Just like any other source of ethanol, many farmers could potentially set up their own “home brew” system to collect the ethanol (if you want to make your own home brew out of watermelons, I recommend not drinking it, even though if done properly, it is safe, but not that tasty, according to the scientists).
The scientists make a few simple tweaks in a laboratory to make the procured ethanol usable in an auto designed to run E85. The idea would be to build a mobile fuel processing machine where this can take place and watermelon growers can essentially become self-sufficient. This could be a potential economic breakthrough for watermelon farmers and other farmers who find themselves with large quantities of unusable produce.
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