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Kiwifruit rejected for damage or inferiority is used as cattle feed throughout New Zealand, but Crown Research Institute, Scion and ZESPRI Innovation scientists are reconsidering its use as a potential biogas able to generate electricity. ZESPRI scientist Alistair Mowat says the fruit would be composted in a large chamber to form a gas. “Biogas could be used to power the packing sheds and the cool storage of the kiwi fruit. And we see an opportunity to off-set between five and 10 per cent of the carbon footprint from kiwi fruit,” Mowat says. Each year about 15 million trays, or 10 per cent of the country’s total crop, are rejected because the fruit is spoiled.