Tunis — A country that has placed stakes on its human resources, Tunisia is reaping the fruits of its efforts, as Tunisian researchers continue to hit the headlines as a result of their innovative streak.

The latest achievement which comes to us from Sfax, is the development of a new technique for extracting biodiesel from olive water (a black liquid formed primarily by water discharged from olives during oil extraction).

Developed by Dr Kamel Halouani, a researcher and a teacher at the Sfax Preparatory Institute for Engineering Studies, the technique involves the extraction of oil devoid of acid and glucose, from olive water.

This innovation is likely to reduce discharges of olive water, which incidentally is rich in significant quantities in nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium and micro-nutrients.

Dr Halouani finalized his innovation in 2009 in the laboratories of the American university, "Virginia Tech" in collaboration with an American researcher, Mr. Foster Agbivor. The results of his findings have been published on Virginia Tech's website.

Dr Halouani, 45 , is the head of a research unit on "Thermo micro electric systems" at the Sfax Institute of Engineering Studies. He has also extensively published on thermo-chemical conversion of biomass , heat and mass transfer, and hydrogen production from gasification of biomass and fuel cells modeling.