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Banana Power!

Posted by michael on from the we-have-no-bananas-today dept.

ackthpt writes "What do you do with rotten bananas, assuming you don't have 1337 5k1ll2 in baking banana bread? Especially a bit of a quandry if you grow bananas and 30% of your crop goes to waste? Bill Clarke, an engineering lecturer at the University of Queensland has devised a way to generate electric power, potentially enough for 500 homes, from the waste of Northern Queensland banana plantations. Nuts and bolts issues like if it's ultimately practical to haul the bananas, decompose them to methane and disposal of waste have yet to be worked out -- don't expect this to power your laptop just yet."

5 of 51 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Scientists need some common sense by jbrader · · Score: 5, Insightful

    The results of a science experiment don't always have to be immediatly practicle. The world needs a new reneable source of energy, if not to replace oil then at least to supplament it. Research and experamentaion like this and the sunflower oil fuel cell story from yesterday may not be commercially viable themselves but who's to say what they might lead to.

    --
    You are so boring that when I see you my feet go to sleep.
  2. Question about the soil... by Thrymm · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Normally they are just left to rot on the ground, but Dr Clarke says this damages the soil - and wastes a potentially useful resource. Wouldnt it re-enrich the soil with nutrients? Composts are used to fertilize, what makes bananas any different which destroys the soil? Great idea though if they can keep it cost effective.

    1. Re:Question about the soil... by nelsonal · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Potential damaging agents are microorganisms on the banana that kill or displace helpful soil organism or something similar to nitrogen burn (like dog spots in a yard). Generally composts have already been broken down before application.

      --
      Degaussing scares the bad magnetism out of the monitor and fills it with good karma.
  3. Re:Banana Bread, recipe courtesy of Emeril Lagasse by RobertB-DC · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Not hard at all...

    So you say, and indeed, I can follow your directions very closely and come out with something approaching an edible loaf (cake? lump?) of Banana Bread.

    But for someone with 1337 b@k1n6 5k1llz, watching me attempt this feat would be painful! To me, the phrase "Using an electric mixer, cream the shortening and sugar" is as meaningless as "Using a text editor, replace carriage returns with HTML paragraph tags" to a non-geek. Where do I turn the knobby dealie for "cream"? Why do I have to put those angle thingies around the "p"?

    We'll both produce acceptable product. But next time, you'll probably let the baker do the baking, and let me code the HTML.

    --
    Stressed? Me? Of course not. Stress is what a rubber band feels before it breaks, silly.
  4. Last time, it was gonna be a source of PAPER... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful


    Sorry, gang, I once fell for a report on the ABC
    suggesting that banana trees could be made into
    high-strength paper... enough & cheaply enough
    to enable all the world's plastic shopping bags
    to go south...

    Nope... 'didn't happen... all we could find (for
    a potentially large overseas investor) was a very
    amateurish web site, suggesting that the trees
    could be made into [furry-like] business cards.

    Couldn't even get a sample of either "miracle"
    paper product from anybody even remotely con-
    nected with the inventors.

    We're very wary of claims from Aussie sources...
    so, if you haven't seen this puppy happening
    in front of your own eyes... BUYER BE WARE! :-/

    PS Your milage with Aussie claims may vary...