Banana Power!

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."

Comments

don't expect this to power your laptop just yet...

[Shadow Wrought]

You tell me this with three, THREE! bananas already in the pcmcia slot. Dangnabbit!

Re:Scientists need some common sense

[jbrader]

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.

Make sure that you know what ripe means.

[MarsDefenseMinister]

Ripe doesn't mean yellow. Ripe means black and squshy. If you make a banana bread with bananas that aren't ripe enough, you'll get a flavorless bread.

Let those things get some nice big black spots on them. That's the full banana flavor developing.

Take it from the experts - the fruit flies. If you give them a choice, they will always pick the squishy banana over the not-ripe-enough yellow ones. And you should too.