1 billion gallons of ethanol from olive stones is possible, say researchers

In Spain, researchers at the Universities of Jaen and Granada announced a new process that can turn olive stones into ethanol, using a cellulosic process. The olive processing industry produces 4 million tonnes of pits each year, which could realize as much as  billion gallons of fuel. The olive stone is rich in polysaccharides that can be processed into sugar and then conventionally fermented into ethanol.

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