Technology...

What’s small, fuzzy on the outside, green on the inside, and may be filling our gas tanks as well as decorating our fruit salads?

You guessed it, the kiwi fruit.

New research out of New Zealand adds kiwi fruit to the list of potential biofuels. Two companies, Scion and Zespri Innovation, are working on ways to turn the 14.5 to 15.6 million trays of kiwifruit waste produced each year into biofuels and other products, including adhesives and bioplastics, according to the New Zealand Herald. If the project pans out, kiwi refineries would be near existing kiwi processing plants and would be similar to wineries.

New Zealanders, like David Roberts, chairman of the Green Growers Association, are excited about the prospects. “The Green Growers Association has been asking for a long time for research into [a] way of using reject fruit and turning it into bio-gas makes sense,” he told the New Zealand Herald.

Here are more fun kiwi facts: the fruit is already known for its laxative, blood thining, and meat tenderizing properties.

Photo from the New Zealand Herald.