Large quantity of biofuel extracted from date seeds by researchers

In the United Arab Emirates, The National News reports that researchers from United Arab Emirates University extracted a large amount of biofuel from date seeds from palm trees which will help boost the biofuel industry in the country. About one million tons of date seeds are produced from 40 million palm trees across the Emirates, 10 per cent of which can be extracted as oils. This will help create 100,000 tons of oils that can converted into biofuel.

The UAEU researchers extracted date pits from the popular Khalas date variety, cleaned them, then sun dried them for two days before grinding and sieving them, according to The National News. A solvent extracted the oil, with the yield relative to the weight of the pits reaching up to 11.7 per cent.

As well as looking at how much oil they could extract from date pits, the researchers were also interested in the gases produced by burning them. By using the pyrolysis process – a method used to heat organic materials to extract combustible gases like hydrogen, methane and carbon monoxide, as well as charcoal – they were able to use 100 per cent of the waste created by the date seeds, according to The National News.