Oct 1 2010
Researchers at the University of Manitoba, Winnipeg have suggested that Timmies’ coffee cups might be converted into biofuel. The Winnipeg researchers have suggested that the discarded Tim Hortons’ paper coffee cups contain bacteria that may transform the cups into biofuel. Thus, the researchers are working on a grant of $10.5 million from Genome Canada towards finding ways for producing biofuels like hydrogen or ethanol.
An undergraduate project helped the researchers in stumbling upon the possibility that bacteria could eat as well as process the minutely ground-up coffee cups while turning them into biofuel. So far, research has shown that only the bacteria present in the Tim Hortons’ cups is suitable for this biofuel conversion while the Starbucks cups make use of different material which are not suitable for this research.
Currently, only few communities in Ontario take efforts in recycling the Tim Hortons’ cups while everywhere else, these cups go into garbage. The researchers feel that with more dedicated support, they could carry out research on other paper products also. On this research subject, the researchers are offering their presentation at the University of Manitoba’s Fort Garry Campus, soon.
Source: http://umanitoba.ca/