The world in peril caused by global warming has drawn international attention. Weather changes and sinking islands experienced by millions people indicated strong alerts for human life. On the other side the rise of fuel price soaring to more than US$ 100 shows that the petroleum resources are getting scarce. Both phenomena inspire me to write this article.
Linking up renewable energy with sustainable development is crucial. However, many renewable energy technologies are very expensive, high tech, and fabricated by and for the affluent population. Biodiesel, in contrast, is one of the few renewable energy technologies that transcend such pitfalls; it is low-tech, viable for local production, easy to use, and in Indonesia and other tropical regions it is economically competitive. Biodiesel is not only renewable source of energy but also produces much less pollution.
Biodiesel has potential to stimulate growth in multiple sectors of the economy. Biodiesel can create both industrial and agricultural economic opportunities. Furthermore, biodiesel does not require a new infrastructure. The existing infrastructure for petroleum diesel fuel is just perfect and is therefore highly practical. Biodiesel should therefore be considered seriously as an important tool for sustainable development.
High cost of biodiesel is the only major current obstacle to its commercialization. Biodiesel usually costs over US$ 1/l, compared to US$0.8/l for petroleum-based diesel. It is reported that the high cost of biodiesel is mainly due to the cost of virgin vegetable oil (Krawczyk, 1996; Connemann and Fischer, 1998). For example, in Indonesia, palm oil is sold on average for about $0.85/l in November 2007. Therefore, it is not surprising that biodiesel produced from pure palm oil costs much more than petroleum-based diesel. Exploring ways to reduce the high cost of biodiesel is of much interest in recent biodiesel research, especially for those methods concentrating on minimizing the raw material cost. The use of used cooking oil instead of virgin oil to produce biodiesel is an effective way to reduce the raw material cost because it is estimated to be about half the price of virgin oil (Supple et al., 1999). In addition, using used cooking oil could also help to solve the problem of used oil disposal (Wiltsee, 1998).
We have initiated to construct a simple machine or reactor to process the used or waste cooking oil to biodiesel in our City, Bogor, West Java, Indonesia. Our machine maximum capacity is only about 1 ton per day. The cost to make the simple machine was only about US$ 15,000. We then developed and improved the machine material cooperating with Surfactant and Bioenergy Research Centre (SBRC-IPB) as shown in the picture. Our biodiesel is used to fuel our operation cars which are a new Innova Kijang 2008 and old High Line Daihatsu. We have been using bioidesel for almost 2 years for the old car fuel. Our bioidiesel is also used to fuel city bus in our city, called Transpakuan. The cetane number of our bioidiesel is more than 60 so we call our biodiesel is BiSel 60.
Due to big demand on the biodiesel, we are looking for more used or waste cooking oil suppliers from all over the world. This business is expanding well and more bigger machines will be built in the future. You all can contact my email or comment this Blog if you are interested.
Linking up renewable energy with sustainable development is crucial. However, many renewable energy technologies are very expensive, high tech, and fabricated by and for the affluent population. Biodiesel, in contrast, is one of the few renewable energy technologies that transcend such pitfalls; it is low-tech, viable for local production, easy to use, and in Indonesia and other tropical regions it is economically competitive. Biodiesel is not only renewable source of energy but also produces much less pollution.
Biodiesel has potential to stimulate growth in multiple sectors of the economy. Biodiesel can create both industrial and agricultural economic opportunities. Furthermore, biodiesel does not require a new infrastructure. The existing infrastructure for petroleum diesel fuel is just perfect and is therefore highly practical. Biodiesel should therefore be considered seriously as an important tool for sustainable development.
High cost of biodiesel is the only major current obstacle to its commercialization. Biodiesel usually costs over US$ 1/l, compared to US$0.8/l for petroleum-based diesel. It is reported that the high cost of biodiesel is mainly due to the cost of virgin vegetable oil (Krawczyk, 1996; Connemann and Fischer, 1998). For example, in Indonesia, palm oil is sold on average for about $0.85/l in November 2007. Therefore, it is not surprising that biodiesel produced from pure palm oil costs much more than petroleum-based diesel. Exploring ways to reduce the high cost of biodiesel is of much interest in recent biodiesel research, especially for those methods concentrating on minimizing the raw material cost. The use of used cooking oil instead of virgin oil to produce biodiesel is an effective way to reduce the raw material cost because it is estimated to be about half the price of virgin oil (Supple et al., 1999). In addition, using used cooking oil could also help to solve the problem of used oil disposal (Wiltsee, 1998).
We have initiated to construct a simple machine or reactor to process the used or waste cooking oil to biodiesel in our City, Bogor, West Java, Indonesia. Our machine maximum capacity is only about 1 ton per day. The cost to make the simple machine was only about US$ 15,000. We then developed and improved the machine material cooperating with Surfactant and Bioenergy Research Centre (SBRC-IPB) as shown in the picture. Our biodiesel is used to fuel our operation cars which are a new Innova Kijang 2008 and old High Line Daihatsu. We have been using bioidesel for almost 2 years for the old car fuel. Our bioidiesel is also used to fuel city bus in our city, called Transpakuan. The cetane number of our bioidiesel is more than 60 so we call our biodiesel is BiSel 60.
Due to big demand on the biodiesel, we are looking for more used or waste cooking oil suppliers from all over the world. This business is expanding well and more bigger machines will be built in the future. You all can contact my email or comment this Blog if you are interested.
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