Coconuts for Biodiesel

Cindy Zimmerman

Coconut Oil It may not be just for suntan lotion anymore. International Fuel Technology Inc. of St. Louis and CIIF Oil Mills Group of the Philippines, the world’s largest coconut producer, have begun a research and development program to expand the use of coconut oil in biofuels blended with diesel fuel. According to a company release, the administration of Philippine President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has set an Energy Independence Agenda aimed at attaining 60% energy self-sufficiency by year 2010, and has mandated the use of 1% coconut-biodiesel in all government diesel-fueled vehicles. Biofuels currently account for an insignificant percentage of the more than 7 billion liters of diesel fuel ($5 billion market) consumed annually in the Philippines.

Biodiesel