US scientists tip watermelon to be a fuel of the future

Watermelons have been tipped as the car fuel of the future by researchers in the US.

More than 360,000 tonnes of watermelon are left to rot every year as they are unwanted to their unusual size or shape.

Farmers have been known to left between 20 to 40 per cent of their crops in the ground because of the same reasons.

But scientists at the United States Department of Agriculture in Oklahoma have found a way to create ethanol from the unwanted watermelons.

Scientists predict that there is enough juice in the wasted watermelons to produce around 2.5 million litres of ethanol each year.

Although this is small fry compared to the predicted total annual ethanol production of nine billion litres, the watermelons can cut the amount of water and nitrogen needed to create the fuel.

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