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Community Lifelines Programme - Energy Sector - Projects - COPRA
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Copra Oil for Power Generation and Transportation
Project Purpose
To further investigate the applicability and technical feasibility of using copra oil as a fuel for use in power generation and for transportation with in the Pacific.
This will be done through the evaluation of the use of copra oil as an alternate fuel source to diesel, thus increasing the knowledge of bio-fuel potential in the region, and as applicable perform a feasibility study in three selected Pacific island countries.
Countries participating in the project are: Fiji, Solomon Islands, Cook Islands, Tuvalu, Samoa, American Samoa, Kiribati, Papua New Guinea and Tonga.
Activities
* Establish the current status in respect to the understanding of bio-fuel technology;
* Determine the current application and use of copra oil (bio-fuels);
* Study the relevance and opportunity for the introduction of copra oil as a bio-fuel;
* Evaluate the supply and demand chain;
* Determine the market potential and opportunities for public / private partnerships;
* Perform a financial and economic analysis of copra oil / bio-fuel options and opportunities; and
* Design and develop a pilot project.
Progress and Results up to December 2007
(the project is now complete)
The project has investigated two types of uses of coconut oil:
1) The use of raw coconut oil in adapted generators; these generators use biofuel when under normal conditions, however during start-up and closing down they use mineral diesel. This option is a viable alternative in remote islands with abundant coconut resources and high local diesel prices.
2) The use of treated coconut oil in transport; this refers to the use of coconut oil as a biodiesel; it is filtered thoroughly and then esterified, mixed with mineral diesel to a degree that the blend will stay in a liquid state during cold periods. This is a viable alternative to importing mineral diesel in islands with large coconut oil potential and related oil processing facilities, combined with relatively high diesel prices.
Important lessons can be learned from:
* Experiences of the Fijian government (Department of Energy) on the use of locally produced copra-oil for the electrification of the village of Welangi.
* Experience in Hawaii, Germany, U.S. and Australia on the production of biofuels and the specifics around the treatment of coconut oil (Philippines, India) in esterification processes.
* University of the South Pacific with applied biodiesel research
* Two MSc students from Imperial College (London) that have written their thesis about the applicability of coconut oil biofuel in Fiji and Tuvalu respectively (see downloads below).
A technical paper has been written for presentation on the SOPAC Annual Session on Coconut oil as a biofuel in the Pacific.
A Fiji National Biofuel Workshop for the Fiji Government was held in Suva in March 2005 to discuss the way forward for a national biofuel industry.
A Regional Workshop on Biofuel has been held in Port Vila, Vanuatu, August 2005 with financial contributions of the Pacific Island Energy Policy and Action Plan project.
An Evaluation of a copra biofuel project was carried out in early 2006 at the request of the Fiji Government Department of Energy. The project was implemented by SPC in 2003 and funded by the French Government. Its aim was poverty alleviation and diversification of income opportunity through the provision of a power system that was fueled by locally produced coconut oil. The report can be downloaded here.
During February 2007, an overview paper “Biofuel in Pacific island countries – Viable business?�? was presented during the Energy Economics Conference in Wellington.
A proposal submitted to CTA, European Union’s Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Co-operation ACP – EU for carrying out a study on the feasibility of producing biofuels for power generation and transport in a small community in Fiji has been granted. Funding will be available to document the electrification of a rural village using coconut oil as a fuel and other value added products. A significant part of the budget is available for continuation of the core COPRA project objectives, i.e. collating and dissemination of information about the use of copra oil as a fuel.
A Technical and Economical supervisory has been finalised by a German student completing an MSc course on the technical effects of using coconut oil in diesel engines, focusing on applications in the Marshall Islands. More information can be found on: RMI Biofuel Research Web Page
A technical publication has been finalised in March 2007 and copies are available from SOPAC. The Technical Publication "Liquid Biofuels in Pacific Island Countries" can also be downloaded here.
A Pacific Biofuel Network has been established, a community with more than 70 contacts which distributes information by an e-mail newsletter and a web-log. The past posted messages can be found at: http://pacbiofuel.blogspot.com/ __
As a follow-up of the sub-regional workshop on biofuels in 2005 in Vanuatu, a regional biofuel conference is currently being planned in collaboration with the Secretariat of the Pacific Community (SPC) and the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) with financial contributions of CTA, European Union’s Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Co-operation ACP – EU. The conference is expected to be held in the middle of 2008 and will have a programme covering agriculture, biofuel technologies, impact of biofuels on food production and sustainable livelihoods.
Download related documents
Download Introductory Paper on Coconut Oil as a Biofuel in the Pacific
Download MSc. Study in Tuvalu - by Jake Burnyeat
Download MSc. Study in Fiji- by Charlie Blair
Download Biofuel Paper for presentation at the Bioenergy Australia Conference in Melbourne 2005" (340 kB, PDF)
Download Evaluation Report Fiji Biofuel Projects on Vanua Balavu and Taveuni(970 kB, PDF)
Technical Publication: Liquid Biofuels in Pacific Island Countries (2,100 kB, PDF)
For more information please contact:
Arieta Gonelevu
Senior Energy Officer
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Contributors to this page: atishma
,
jan
and
sakaio
.
Page last modified on Thursday 10 of July, 2008 [02:43:27 UTC] by atishma .
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