Turkey to burn pistachio shells for biogas to power new city

Pistachios are already a key ingredient in Turkish baklava, but the country may now have found a new way to exploit the nuts known as "green gold" - by using their shells to heat a new eco-city.

Officials are examining plans to build the country's first ecological city, with buildings heated by burning pistachio shells.

And there can be few better locations for such a project than Gaziantep - the southeastern region close to the Syrian border which produces thousands of tonnes of the nut every year.

"Gaziantep's potential in pistachio production is known, as well as its considerable amount of pistachio shells waste," said Seda Muftuoglu Gulec, a municipal green building expert.

"We are planning to obtain biogas, a kind of renewable energy, from burning pistachio shells."

The pistachio-heated city would encompass 3,200 hectares, and house 200,000 people. It would be 11 kilometres from the province's capital city, also named Gaziantep.

If the project bears fruit, pistachio shells formerly regarded as waste could become a new form of energy.