Oranges to give Spanish cars more zest

The Spanish have come up with an appealing (or should that be appeeling?) new idea for biofuel; oranges.

The regional government in Valencia reckons that some of the excess production of the fruit, and its by-products, could be used to power cars.

Most of the four million tonnes of oranges produced in Valencia are turned into juice, leaving the peel as a pulpy by-product.

Each tonne of this pulp could create up to 80 litres of biofuel. Currently, there is potential to make almost 20 million litres of the fuel a year, though a government spokesman reckoned that it could almost double in the next five years as new juice processing plants come online.

The fuel would be sold to locals in Valencia, and help boost the local economy as well as reduce CO2 emissions.