Research at the University of Nevada – Reno has shown that it is possible to get oil from old coffee grounds. The biofuel could be a cheap alternative and there is potential to produce many million of gallons per year.

Mano Misra spoke of coming across the idea by accident. Having left a cup of coffee out over night he noticed an oil build up around the edges of the cup. Misra then did some tests on coffee grounds and found it to contain between ten and fifteen percent oil. He was then able to covert the oil to biodiesel. Starbucks then provided lots of leftover coffee grounds to be used for further research.

The procedure is not particularly demanding energy wise so the biodiesel could be made for roughly one dollar per gallon. Believe it or not the fuel actually smells like coffee! So perhaps in a few years time you could be driving around in a Cork Airport car hire smelling of coffee.

The coffee grounds produce a more stable fuel than previous efforts involving corn and soy. It is also green friendly with much lower carbon dioxide emissions.