Evaluation of Unrefined Peanut Oil As a Bioenergy Feedstock

Field studies focused on the suitability of different peanut (Arachis hypogaea L.) cultivars as biodiesel feedstocks in irrigated and non-irrigated production environments were conducted over a 3 year period at two sites in Southwest Georgia . Non-irrigated oil yield ranged from 81 to 192 gallons per acre, and irrigated oil yield ranged from 144 to 205 gallons per acre, depending on cultivar and year. Averaged across cultivars and years, non-irrigated and irrigated oil yields averaged 117 and 164 gallons per acre, respectively. The average non-irrigated and irrigated production cost per unit of oil was $1.98 and $1.59 per gallon, respectively. Peanut shelling and oil processing was conducted at the USDA, ARS National Peanut Research Laboratory’s biodiesel pilot refinery at a cost of $0.92 per gallon resulting in a total cost of $2.90 and $2.51 per gallon, respectively for the non-irrigated and irrigated regimes. Due to oversupply, and the need for alternative uses of low quality/non-edible peanuts, recent interest in expanding alternative uses of peanut as a bioenergy feedstock has led to analysis of unrefined peanut oil for renewable jet and diesel fuels. Unrefined peanut oil samples were sent to Applied Research Associates (Panama City, FL) for testing. The results showed that Jet A-1 (Commercial aviation fuel), JP-5 (Navy aviation fuel) met all ASTM and military specifications. Diesel #2 and F76 (Navy marine diesel fuel) also met ASTM D975 and F-76 requirements. These results offer support for the US peanut industry to examine the cost effectiveness and market opportunities for peanut oil as a bioenergy feedstock.