Pondicherry University secures patent for eco-friendly disposal of date palm waste

Pondicherry University invents eco-friendly process for complete disposal of date palm waste, generating energy and fertilizers without residue.

Pondicherry University has been granted a patent on the process for an eco-friendly and complete disposal of date palm waste.

The process was developed by S.A. Abbasi, emeritus professor, and Tasneem Abbasi, associate professor, Centre for Pollution Control and Environmental Engineering, Pondicherry University, with the support of former doctoral students Pratiksha Patnaik and Tabassum Abbasi.

K. Tharanikkarasu, vice-chancellor in-charge of Pondicherry University, felicitated the team of inventors.

The process enables utilisation of date palm waste for generating energy and fertilisers in a clean process, which consumes no chemicals and leaves no residue.

It is estimated that date palm cultivation generates over 105 million tonnes of waste worldwide .As of now, no technology is available to utilise it in a commercially or environmentally viable manner.

As a result, it is a major source of pollution and one of the biggest streams of solid waste generated year after year.

With the demand for dates growing and date palm cultivation on the rise, the amount of date palm waste generated annually is also increasing. Several countries, including India, that do not have the tradition of date farming, are also beginning to cultivate date palm in large scales. The process is unique because it does not use any synthetic chemical or generate any harmful emissions.The process also enables total utilisation of the date palm waste, leaving zero residue.