Researchers at the University of Louisiana recently discovered that alligator fat might be an alternative source of biodiesel, a clean burning fuel that is primarily produced from soybeans. The problem with soybeans is that they also supply food for both animals and humans, so eliminating the need for them in the production of biodiesel is good news for everyone. On average, the US burns 45 million gallons of diesel annually, and sourcing just one billion of those gallons from soybeans would consume up to 21% of the American crop. But with 15 million pounds of alligator fat going directly into landfills every year, they may have found the perfect replacement.
So where’s all of this fat coming from? Rakesh Bajpai, a professor of chemical engineering at the university (and practicing vegetarian) explains that alligators, unlike crocodiles, are neither endangered or threatened. Not only are they grown and harvested for their meat and for their skins but they are plentiful in the wild. On Wednesday, Dr. Baipai and five other researchers published a paper in the journal Industrial Engineering Chemistry Research reporting that in recent lab experiments, they successfully converted 61% of the alligator fat to liquids that could be used to produce biofuel – changing that 15 million pounds of fat into 1.25 million gallons of fuel with energy content almost 91% as good as petroleum diesel. Now that’s potential!
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4 Comments
caemanNovember 8, 2011 at 5:55 pm
Alligators are farmed, ya know. And they eat almost anything that is meat, so they are great for recycling.
Ana PiresNovember 8, 2011 at 4:21 pm
This is outrageous! Alligator fat?!!! Shame on you. Can’t you researchers ever come up with something that is not destructive? Not that smart after all… your brains are in your pockets that’s all
LurianAugust 26, 2011 at 12:47 pm
Why don’t they want to use dead african children instead? Millions and millions die every week and those fluids (at least what’s left of it) goes to waste. Seriously, how many freakin races do you want to make extinct people before you realise that this road goes nowhere??? The Nazis did the same with Jews during WW2. Who’s that psichopath Rakesh Bajpai to decide the fate of a species??? Does anyone realy think that this is a good idea? Bio-gold mine? Caeman you cannot be serious man. So does Green Power mean that we should burn forrests to get some juice out of them? And liquidise races to make fuel of them? B.llshit!
caemanAugust 18, 2011 at 1:34 pm
Billion!? Oh, Million. Okay, the second half corrected that. But still, 15 million pounds of gator fat going to waste. It is a bio-gold mine for biofuels.
Alligators are farmed, ya know. And they eat almost anything that is meat, so they are great for recycling.
This is outrageous! Alligator fat?!!! Shame on you. Can’t you researchers ever come up with something that is not destructive? Not that smart after all… your brains are in your pockets that’s all
Why don’t they want to use dead african children instead? Millions and millions die every week and those fluids (at least what’s left of it) goes to waste. Seriously, how many freakin races do you want to make extinct people before you realise that this road goes nowhere??? The Nazis did the same with Jews during WW2. Who’s that psichopath Rakesh Bajpai to decide the fate of a species??? Does anyone realy think that this is a good idea? Bio-gold mine? Caeman you cannot be serious man. So does Green Power mean that we should burn forrests to get some juice out of them? And liquidise races to make fuel of them? B.llshit!
Billion!? Oh, Million. Okay, the second half corrected that. But still, 15 million pounds of gator fat going to waste. It is a bio-gold mine for biofuels.