Deepika Agrawal 
In a first of its kind initiative in Oman, a bus is powered by fuel derived from date kernels. The biodiesel fuel from dates waste was first produced by scientists at Oman’s Sultan Qaboos University. According to Lamya Adnan Al-Haj, the Associate Professor of Molecular Biology, back in 2015, the team of researchers at the University worked on utilising the oil content in date seeds to produce fuel. The date seeds have about 9-15% oil content.
They would wash, dry and then crush these seeds, and extract the oil using alcohol. Then, a chemical catalyst would be used to convert the oil into bio-diesel. This fuel was used in a bus for the first time in December 2022. The first trip of the bus was flagged off by SQU Vice-Chancellor HH Sayyid and commenced from the SQU Cultural Centre in Al Khoudh, before heading along Sultan Qaboos Street and finally the Al Alam Palace, before turning back to the starting point. It is estimated to be a 66-kilometre-long trip.
This project considers producing cost-effective biofuel from date palm kernels and using a novel and recyclable chemical catalyst. Further, it provides the roadmap for cutting down carbon footprint, scope identification of renewable and sustainable assets for economic and social growth, as well as managing the fine line between the goals of sustainable development and the constraints posed by climate change.
The project utilises clean technology as a tool for creating balance and promoting sustainable development to meet the goals of Oman Vision 2040 in terms of the corresponding types of power sources.
Recently, the World Economic Forum (WEF) featured a video about this initiative, featuring Al-Haj. While highlighting the importance of this project, she said, “If everybody focuses their R&D on a real challenge in our country, then we will be part of driving the economy and finding solutions.” She believes that production of bio-fuel at a larger scale will benefit the society in a big way. “It will create jobs for the farmers instead of them simply throwing away the seeds.”
It took seven years for the team to perfect the biodiesel production process using the palm date kernels. The biggest hurdle in this journey, Al-Haj said, was their mindset. “We were not thinking of alternate energies; we were heavily dependent on fossil fuels,” she said. The R&D team also found it difficult to secure funds for this project in the beginning because this wasn’t something that was trending at that time. However, now that bio-fuel is a hot topic, it is easier for them to get funding but there’s still a long road ahead in terms of awareness. Beside end consumer, Al-Haj says they need legislations and support from the government side too to make biodiesel a wide-scale product.
