Thursday, January 26, 2006

COCODIESEL: Putting a Coconut in Your Tank!

Lately there's been a lot of publicity about alternative fuels, specifically, biofuels (from vegetable oil). The focus has been on ethanol (from sugarcane and corn oil), rapeseed biofuel, and fuel from waste cooking oil.

In coconut-producing countries such as the Philippines, the big star in the biofuel stage is coconut biodiesel, also known as coconut methyl ester, or CME, derived from coconut oil. CME, which is used as a diesel additive or blend, is produced using transesterification, a process that involves the reaction of coconut oil with methanol under high temperature and using catalysts to produce ester and glycerol.

Transesterification results in products which can match properties of commercial diesel fuel, which means that CME can be used as a blend with diesel without any engine modification (unlike ethanol and other biofuels). Currently in the Philippines, one percent (1%) CME is being used.

CME has three properties of coconut oil which can improve the performance of the engine: lubricity, solvency and detergency. Studies show that the use of CME results in better combustion, less emission, more engine power, cleaner engine, and lower maintenance cost. (It must also be noted that in the Philippines, as is true in other developing countries, transport vehicles run on old and refurbished engines; commercial diesel used also has higher sulfur content - thus, the dramatic results of tests, particularly in reduction of emission and NOX content, as well as in better power and acceleration.)

There are two Philippine companies - Chemrez, Inc. and Senbel Corp. - that manufacture CME. Export markets include Japan and Germany. Philippine government vehicles are required through a Presidential Mandate to use a 1% blend. Legislation is currently being considered mandating the use of CME in all transport vehicles country-wide.

Meanwhile, tests of CME blend in stationary gensets show the same dramatic results - an encouraging development especially as the Clean Air Act was passed by the Philippine Congress nearly two years ago.

So, if you want to put a coconut in your tank, think COCODIESEL!


Wednesday, January 18, 2006

SRE Now into Cocodiesel and Clean-burning Stove

In keeping with its mandate to explore more productive uses of renewable energy - particularly, biomass - SRE has expanded its core activities to include (1) the production and testing of coconut methyl ester (CME), or cocodiesel, in stationary engines, and (2) the commercial production of the Mayon Turbo Stove, a household cooking stove that uses rice hulls for fuel.

The CME will be used in a one percent (1%) blend with regular diesel in operating the 75 HP diesel-fuel decorticator at SRE's Ibajay Coco Coir Processing plant. Aklan State University's Chemical Laboratory is collaborating with SRE in the production of CME. The stock coconut oil used is sourced from the mini oilmill owned and operated by the Ibajay Small Coconut Farmers Development Cooperative (ISCFDC), SRE's partners in the coco coir processing enterprise.

In collaboration with another partner, Resource Efficient Agriculture Production (REAP Canada), SRE helped to design and fabricate the Mayon Turbo Stove (The Poor Man's Gas Stove) which is fuelled by raw rice hulls. It is cheap, efficient, clean-burning, and can be fabricated locally.

With the new ventures, SRE's "stable" now features: (1) coco coir processing; (2) multi-purpose dryer fuelled by rice hulls and other agricultural waste; (3) virgin coconut oil; (4) cocodiesel, and (5) Mayon Turbo Stove. SRE was also the first foreign entity to run field tests of the first two prototypes of the BioMax, a biomass gasifier fuelled by raw coconut shells that generated 15HP of electricity. The BioMax is manufactured by Colorado-based Community Power Corporation (www.gocpc.com), one of SRE's partners.

Still in the pipeline is converting COCONUT DUST into organic fertilizer and mulch for high-value crops, a joint endeavor of SRE and Sagana 100, a leading manufacturer of organic fertilizer in the Philippines. With countries such as Germany now banning the use of peat moss and mandating, instead, the use of coconut dust peat (cocopeat), the worldwide market for yet another byproduct of the tree of life is expected to grow.

Introducing the Mayon Turbo Stove

The Mayon Turbo Stove

“The Poor Man’s Gas Stove”


The Mayon Turbo Stove (MTS) is a breakthrough in clean combustion technologies that provides rural families with low-cost, convenient, pollution-free cooking from the use of rice hulls as fuel.

Designed and developed by Resource Efficient Agriculture Production (REAP) Canada, a partner of SRE, the MTS reduces (a) the use of firewood, charcoal, and LPG; (b) expenditures on cooking, especially with escalating costs of traditional fuels; (c) greenhouse gas emissions and household air pollution; (d) deforestation, and (e) the burden of firewood-gathering on women.

Features of MTS include: (a) high efficiency and clean combustion; (b) economical; (c) fast boiling point; (d) convenience in fabrication and use; (e) low fuel consumption; (f) portable and lightweight; (g) safety, and (h) holistic use of fuel source, i.e., carbonized rice hulls are used as soil enhancer, household cleanser, insect repellent, etc.

In early 2005, SRE conducted a survey of cooking practices in rural households. Results of the survey showed an urgent need for a cleaner, safer, and cheaper cooking method. SRE is currently in the process of initiating commercial production of the MTS, an undertaking that is consistent with its commitment to productive uses of renewable energy.

Amid rising costs of firewood, charcoal and LPG, along with increasing incidences of respiratory ailments among rural families, the MTS couldn’t have come at a better time. Indeed, as we in SRE love to say, “The Mayon Turbo Stove is one hulluva stove!”