Many of us depend on coffee to power us through the day, but Researchers at the University of Nevada, Reno discovered that used coffee grounds can power our automobiles as well. They were able to make biodiesel from the grounds and estimate that several hundred millions gallons of biodiesel could be produced each year.
Dr. Mano Misra, one of the researchers, told the New York Times that the process of extracting oil from the grounds is not very energy intensive and biodiesel could be produced for about one dollar per gallon. The hardest part of the process, he says, is collecting grounds efficiently.
Source: The New York Times
Diana Budds says:
I think it's fantastic that people are looking at ways to turn waste products into something more valuable. More ways to upcycle, which according to Wikipedia is the practice of taking something that is disposable and transforming it into something of greater use and value, need to be found. When most things are recycled in the traditional sense, like plastics, they are usually turned in to goods with lesser value.