The National Watermelon Association began working with the USDA in 2006 to see if the 700-800 million pounds of blemished melons (and late-season melons that are not worth it for big farms to harvest) could find another life as ethanol instead of being plowed back into the ground. ARS researcher Wayne Fish has found a way to get about 7/10ths …
Texas A&M Developing Biofuel, Forage Crop
Researchers at Texas A&M University are developing a crop that will double as a bioenergy and livestock forage source. This news release from the school says Dr. Russ Jessup, a Texas A&M AgriLife Research perennial grass breeder in College Station, is introducing a new biofuel-biomass feedstock hybrid that is a hybrid “similar to seedless watermelons, seedless grapes and other sterile …
Ag Facility Early Adopter of Solar Technology
Kirschenman Enterprises, an agricultural company that grows, packs ands ships potatoes, grapes and watermelon, has installed a solar system at their cold storage facility in Bakersfield, California. The fixed tilt ground and roof-mounted 510kW solar electric installation features Coenergy Solar’s PH235P solar modules and SunTop and SolarLinea II mounting systems. The solar system has the capacity to produce 768,182 kWh …
Melons Could Be the Next Great Ethanol Feedstock
Watermelons… that tasty summertime treat… could be the next feedstock for the green fuel ethanol. We’ve told you previously about how the National Watermelon Association has been pushing the idea of the fruit being used for ethanol (see our posts from May 20, 2009 and January 7, 2008). Now, it looks like there’s some research to back up that idea. …
Melon Fuel Still in Development
The National Watermelon Association is still working on making fuel from melons. Executive Director Bob Morrissey says they still believe there is a future in the idea, which we first reported on here in September 2006. “We still have to do some homework on the logistics portion and the economics portion,” he said. “Our initial idea is to get a …
Melon Ethanol
How about a nice juicy slice of – ethanol? The National Watermelon Association is preparing for some research with USDA, the University of Georgia and an ethanol plant in Florida to use the estimated 700 million pounds of watermelons that are wasted each year for ethanol production. “We’re really excited about this,” says Watermelon Association Executive Director Bob Morrissey. “This …