Re: vegetable oil for running diesel engines

[Keith Addison <keith@journeytoforever.org>]

Hello Dr. Rajvanshi!

I was thinking of you and NARI, and of Talukas and Gandhi, and 
wondering if I should look it up first - I have it all on my hard 
disk. No need! Thankyou!

Regards

Keith Addison


>Hello!
>
>I fully agree with you. We did a study in India where we showed  that it is
>possible to take care of energy needs completely by biomass and its various
>derivatives for a block of about 100 villages. You can access the study at;
>http://education.vsnl.com/nimbkar/taluka.html
>
>Cheers.
>
>Dr. Anil K. Rajvanshi
>Director
>Nimbkar Agricultural Research Institute
>P.O.Box 44, Phaltan - 415523
>Maharashtra, INDIA
>Ph: 91-2166-222396/220945
>
>http://www.nariphaltan.org
>http://nariphaltan.virtualave.net
>E-mail:nariphaltan@sancharnet.in
>----- Original Message -----
>From: "Keith Addison" <keith@journeytoforever.org>
>To: <stoves@crest.org>
>Sent: Saturday, November 23, 2002 6:27 PM
>Subject: Re: vegetable oil for running diesel engines
>
>
> > >Dear Peter,
> > >Everybody is talking about substituting diesel with vegetable oils but
>the
> > >quantities available would not suffice to satisfy the demand. I confirm
>your
> > >statement about the availability of tree oils in the tropics, but the
>ones
> > >listed by you, e.g. coconut and oil palm, are grown on plantations, and
> > >therefore costly.  There are atleast 50 oilseed bearing trees in India,
>that
> > >grow wild. Their seed is available free of cost to anybody, who has the
>time
> > >and patience to collect them in the forest. They produce non-edible oil,
> > >which costs only half as much as the edible one, because the tree seeds
>are
> > >available free of cost. The non-edible oils are used mainly for soap
>making.
> > >For increasing the supply of these oils, these trees would have to be
>grown
> > >on a plantation scale, and then they too would become as costly as the
> > >edible oils because of the agronomic inputs that the farmer has to use. I
> > >feel that producer gas or biogas would be better options than vegetable
>oil
> > >for running diesel engines. Both of these fuels can be produced from
> > >agricultural waste, which is readily available at a negligible cost.
> > >Dr.A.D.Karve
> > >President,
> > >Appropriate Rural Technology Institute
> > >Pune, India
> >
> > Hello Dr Karve
> >
> > We often encounter this argument at the Biofuel list, not only about
> > India, but about just about any country you care to name, or the
> > world at large.
> >
> > There are several points to be made. One, especially for the Western
> > countries, is that mere substitution of fossil fuels with biofuels is
> > not the answer, or perhaps not even the right question: maximum
> > reductions in energy use are also required, along with maximumum
> > increases in energy-use efficiency, which tends to change the picture
> > more than somewhat. Something else we all feel is essential is
> > decentralization of supply. Not only does it not make sense to use
> > energy to transport energy long distances to localities where many
> > types of local resources lie unused, but in many instances local
> > supply can be much more efficient, exploiting many niches and local
> > opportunities that simply don't begin to figure in a centralised
> > supply scenario.
> >
> > Food supply provides a good comparison, though different to the one
> > you make, of having to "industrialize" biofuel crop production to
> > make the fuel available. Consider instead the situation with city
> > farms - city farms produce at least 15% of the world's food supply
> > (food that is, the stuff people eat, not just agricultural
> > commodities to be traded), and do it without using any farmland at
> > all, nor agronomic inputs. The other spin-off benefits for the local
> > people involved, both producers and consumers, are considerable, and
> > it also accomplishes a great deal of waste recycling that many of
> > these cities would not otherwise be able to accomplish, probably
> > preventing great increases in disease and loss of water quality.
> >
> > This scenario could quite easily be adapted to produce large amounts
> > of biofuels locally for local use. It should not be limited to just
> > one fuel - vegetable oil for diesels in this case. Ethanol can quite
> > easily be produced locally from food wastes and garbage, leaving a
> > residue which can be used to feed livestock (lots of pigs, ducks and
> > chickens in city backyards), or as fertilizer for crops when
> > composted, and once again optimizing waste recycling. Biogas is of
> > course a further option. These fuels should be complementary, not
> > competitors. So should all the various crops and plants with fuel
> > capabilities, rather than just focusing on one or two, the way a
> > centralized industry - or government! - will do. And of course waste
> > recycling is only ever really optimized at the local level anyway.
> >
> > The organic farms now so popular in the western countries, and in
> > India, mostly use technology developed in India by Sir Albert Howard
> > in the 1920s and 30s, much of which he learnt from the Indian
> > peasants (his professors, as he called them). These are mixed,
> > integrated farms with very low or zero agronomic inputs from outside
> > the farm. Yields are the same or higher, costs lower, externalized
> > costs zero. Much home-grown and home-produced fuel can be produced on
> > such a farm via an ever-changing series of by-products and waste
> > products, enough to power the farm and its vehicles, and more
> > besides. A local cooperative of such farms can provide enough for a
> > small local market, partly, largely, or completely from by-products,
> > without exclusive use of much or any farmland. I've just been
> > discussing these possibilities with two farmers, one in the US and
> > one in Botswana. Farmers often ask these questions, many are doing it.
> >
> > There are so many opportunities for this kind of approach. If a small
> > town planted jatropha or other oilseed-brearing trees along its
> > sidewalks, in its open areas, along its sidings and so on, instead of
> > decorative trees or whatever, they'd be able to provide a lot of
> > good, clean fuel for local public transport and utility vehicles, as
> > well as local employment and other spin-off benefits for the local
> > economy.
> >
> > I think India is particularly well suited to such approaches.
> >
> > Again, producing gas or biogas from agricultural waste as you suggest
> > is one option, but I don't see this as an either-or choice. There's
> > room for everything, depending on the local situation, and the "best"
> > answer will very often be a combination of approaches. I do rather
> > argue against the whole concept of agricultural "waste" however. Is
> > there really such a thing? - or of there is, should there continue to
> > be? It speaks too loudly of soil deprivation, of neglectful and
> > unsustainable production methods. At least with biogas there is a
> > resultant sludge which, though troublesome, can be returned to the
> > soil with benefit. The on-farm schemes I've suggested above of course
> > include such measures. In cities, wastes are diverted to use,
> > therefore are not wastes but raw materials, by-products are utilized
> > as stockfeed or fertilizer, and livestock wastes as fertilizer -
> > that's sustainable.
> >
> > Best wishes
> >
> > Keith Addison
> > Journey to Forever
> > Handmade Projects
> > Osaka, Japan
> > http://journeytoforever.org/
> >
> >
> >
> >
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> >
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>
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Other Biomass Stoves Events and Information:
http://www.crest.org/articles/static/1/1010424940_7.html Bioenergy
http://www.crest.org/articles/static/1/1011975339_7.html Gasification
http://www.crest.org/articles/static/1/1011975672_7.html Carbon

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