The same is true for the pit of an olive, peach or cherry, or the shell of an almond or walnut. All someone needs is a way to release that energy.
Seth DeBolt says a company in India, Husk Power Systems, is using small generators in villages to make electricity from rice hulls. The process used is called gasification. Heating plant matter in a low-oxygen chamber releases gases. These can be burned in an engine that turns a power-generating turbine.
Professor DeBolt says he and his team see possibilities for coconut and mango power.
SETH DeBOLT: "Hey, well these crops are growing here and these are the areas where there is potential for energy poverty to be alleviated at least in part by these small-scale production systems."
The researchers have just published a study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. They say these systems could provide as much as thirteen percent of the energy needs of a country like Indonesia. Other tropical countries with large crops of coconuts, mangoes and similar fruit could benefit, as well.
But Professor DeBolt says this is not a perfect solution. There are technical questions, like how to safely deal with the hazardous waste that gasification can produce. And there needs to be money to get these projects started.
And that's the VOA Special English Agriculture Report. I'm Jim Tedder.
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2013-11-25
2013-11-25
2013-11-25
2013-11-25
2013-11-25
2013-11-25