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Article: Dates could hold future of creating local biofuel.
- Article from:
- Gulf News (United Arab Emirates)
- Article date:
- October 3, 2009
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Dubai: Dates could hold the answer to creating a cheap and readily accessible biofuel in the UAE thanks to their high sugar levels which can be turned into ethanol fuel.
The technology exists, however the concept lacks investors despite the enormous amount of dates which go to waste every year in the Arab world.
In the UAE alone, from 50,000 to 80,000 metric tonnes of dates are grown in excess, which could fuel the production of 17,000 to 26,000 tonnes of bio-ethanol - enough to meet the needs of UAE taxis, trucks or buses, or corporate fleets, according to Dr Abdul Ouahhab Zaid, professor and chief technical adviser and director of the Date Palm ...