Category Archives: Castor oil – Biodiesel

Castor Fuel in Kenya

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Kenyan based castor company – Biossal, uses castor as a primary feedstock for their local needs for fuel production. The company has entered into an agreement with Kenya Industrial Research and Development Institute (KIRDI), to research biofuel manufacturing processes and castor seed oil yields.

The company claims that the castor fuel produced by them can be used to fire boilers like those used in big schools or institutions such as hospitals or police, prisons or army camps In addition, Biossal aims to review the technical feasibility of turning castor bean waste into briquettes, livestock feed and fertilizer with the technical support of Climate Innovation Center, Kenya.

More: http://kenyacic.org/devs/content/bioenergy-system-supplies-biossal

Columbia welcomes castor biodiesel production

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In the current day world, as fossil fuel demands continue to peak in a regular way, people look for alternate options especially the renewable oils which has a great tendency to produce a positive impact in the transportation sector. Although different vegetable oils are proven to act as sources for bio-fuel synthesis,several find constraints due to their extensive applications as vital ingredients in food. However, castor oil being under the non-edible oil class, turns to be a gifted candidate in this regard for ready exploitation to feed the locomotive engines.

Recently, an Argentinian oil company Oil Fox has come with an overseas initiative to produce biodiesel from castor and algae in Columbia. According to the spokesman from the producer firm, they plan to commission a production facility for 500 million litres on an annual basis with an investment over US$ 150 million. They further indicate that the plant will function in collaboration with two academic institutes and a local firm for technical and raw material procurement support respectively. It is interesting to see that the company concerned has already been in castor biodiesel production business in Argentina since 1999.

Castor plant seems to be an appropriate choice not only due to its non-edible nature but also for its inherent property to grow on marginal lands under rain-fed conditions.Hence it has a capability to create sustainable biodiesel operation right from farmers’ field to industrial and consumer environments. Also when the final product from castor oil is optimized well to suit the demands of engines, castor bean shall be a good oilseed crop for these natural wealth rich South American nations where cultivation of it is already in practice.

For reference: http://www.fis.com/fis/worldnews/worldnews.asp?monthyear=&day=11&id=56041&l=e&special=&ndb=1%20target=

Potency of Castor Biodiesel for Lubricant Production

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Lubricants are well known to act as substances for minimization of friction in locomotive engines and other spare parts. As we know they can be synthesized from multiple synthetic and natural sources and some of which prove to be environmentally recalcitrant and pose adverse effects.Studies indicate that nearly 12 million tonnes of lubricants are eliminated after usage and majority of them are disposed in a biologically unsafe manner. To reduce their prolonged existence, people are in relentless efforts to identify and formulate eco-safe lubricant substances.

The answer to this query has been recently addressed though biodiesel produced from castor oil.It is not surprising to implicate castor oil for lubricant synthesis as some of its prominent derivatives as 12-hydroxy stearic acid are well characterized lubricants. Now, castor biodiesel  what is to be fed as a fuel possesses typical properties to yield biodegradable lubricants with desired functions as oxidation stability, thermo-tolerance and high viscosity index etc. Researchers of this study have witnessed that the fluids generated from castor biodiesel esters are lubricative due to the presence of ricinoleic acid.

The results seem to be exiting to watch in a perspective where castor biodiesel effectively fails to compete with conventional fuels on certain fuel parameters. So, research initiatives on castor biodiesel such as this would add up its industrial scope in different dimensions with ecological significance.

For reference: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ls.1205/abstract

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Castor-An Effective Mitigant of GHG Emissions

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Castor oil, an universally reputed vegetable oil finds inexhaustible applications in numerous industrial sectors with special references to bio-polymer, lubricant, pharmaceutical and surfactant domains. In the list of vegetable oils for biofuels, castor oil equally reserves its position as a promising source but often its demand in non-energy sector and volatile global market availability has shadowed the contribution of castor to sustainable biofuel development. To circumvent the limitations and harness the carbon credits of castor biodiesel and related environmental advantages, German firm Evogene subjected biodiesel from its high yielding lines of castor to GHG life cycle assessment (LCA).

To best realize the complete environmental impacts of castor biodieel as LCA, Symbiotic Engineering conducted the study in two different locations, USA and Brazil for Evogene’ product. Astonishingly, the results indicated that biodiesel production coupled to use from castor reduced GHG emissions by 90 & 75% in USA and Brazil respectively.

Manufacturers of this biofuel were deeply impressed with energy and ecological weightage of castor and Mr. Assaf Oron, Evogene’s EVP Strategy and Business Development announced that “The results of the LCA strengthen our belief in castor bean”.

For reference:http://advancedbiofuelsusa.info/life-cycle-analysis-of-evogene-castor-bean-based-biodiesel-shows-90-emissions-reduction-compared-to-petroleum

Castor biodiesel run in Ethiopia

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The concept of renewable energy has really taken momentum all around the world as the African nation Ethiopia has made moves to initiate ventures on bio-diesel production from castor oil.The prime objective is to reduce the energy burden of the nation since experts  claim that Ethiopia allocates 90% of its foreign revenue to fossil fuel import and hence focus has been applied to exploit the renewable resources for ensuring the sustainability in nation’s economy.

Among the leading Ethiopian energy investors,Global Energy Ethiopia(GEE) has started its operation on renewable energy  since 2007 by pumping US$ 20 million into castor and jatropha seed farming and processing business.According to sources,GEE firm has an opportunity to process 40,000 tonnes of vegetable oil in its investment on concerned bioenergy crops from 30,000 hectares of leased land.Besides GEE, other firms namely Eco Energy has also entered into  bio-energy sector with collaborations from abroad.

According to Ethiopian Investment Agency(EIA),the potential of 25 million hectares of land suited for bio-diesel farming when tapped completely,Ethiopia becomes one of the highest producers of bio-diesel with an estimated capacity of 20 million liters of crude vegetable oil.

Reports such as this are motivating because the nations that have been torn by the economic crisis,civil wars and political instabilities, would have a tremendous scope to lift their socio-economic and environmental consciousness at the competitive International stage.

For reference: http://energybusinessdaily.com/renewables/ethiopia-sets-its-sights-on-biodiesel/

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Castor cultivation emerging in Brazil

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Castor cultivation extensively is practiced throughout the world for it industrial oil.Recently, Brazilian firm Eco-carbone has made it’s entry into castor venture and claims that the firm has launched a pilot scale production of castor in 1100 hectares of rainfed and irrigated lands hired on rent basis.The anticipated production of castor seed would be around 2300 tonnes per annum.They say that the objective behind this investment is to accelerate the cultivation of castor in Brazil as demand for castor oil and its derivatives are globally increasing.In addition, castor proves to be a viable alternative to Jatropha for the bio-diesel production in Brazil.

It is important to note that Brazil is an excellent agro-climatic zone for the cultivation of castor but its current day production is way behind India.Therefore initiatives of such types would have a deep impact in understanding the potential of this oilseed crop in right geographical zones for economic and employment prosperity.

For further reference:http://www.eco-carbone.com/index.php?Firstlevel_ID=15&lang=en

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Plant oil stoves as alternate sources of energy

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Bio-fuel from renewable resources has extended its roots to kitchens as well.The German Firms, BSH Bosch and Siemens Hausgeräte GmbH (BSH) have introduced a new plant oil stove “The Protos”. They claim that their eco-friendly stove operates by sustainably generated bio-fuels from castor and other edible oils. It has a great potential to minimize the demand for wood fuels among the rural people.Further, its ecological significance can be best understood by its ability to reduce seven tonnes of carbondioxide emissions per year. After a successful preliminary testing from 2004 to 2006, the firms have sold about 800 plant oil stoves so far in Philippines and plans have been made to evaluate the performance of “The Protos” in other nations including India, Indonesia, South Africa and Tanzania.

Plant oil stoves are extraordinary alternate energy sources for household purposes but needs a complete profile regarding its biosafety, stability to liberate energy and a well defined production technology and volume to feed the stoves to achieve an uninterrupted supply of energy.

For Further Reference:http://www.siemens.com/sustainability/en/sustainable/protos.htm

Castor cultivation for biodiesel production.

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Biodiesel from castor is an emerging trend in Jamaica as it planned to use the oil seed crop to minimize its energy burden in a sustainable way.Petrojam Ethanol Limited(PEL) Chairman,Mr.Karl James stated that castor biodiesel is a potential renewable source, well suited to Jamaican conditions and can meet atleast 3% of the total consumption of 168 million gallons of diesel oil demand in the country.He further insisted that the initiative is to be implemented with caution and the formation of inter ministerial committee of Cabinet is mandatory to accelerate the program.Energy Minister, Philip Paulwell said that castor crop is well acclimatized to grow in any marginal region without competing with the principal crops.He also added that castor needs low maintainance and high oil content in beans  renders production effective.

It is vital to carefully select a castor breed and good agronomic practices for the implementation of the project with success.

For further reference:http://jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20070810/business/business1.html

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Castor oil as source of biodiesel in Jamaica

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An agreement worth US$ 10.3 million has been signed between Petroleum Corporation of Jamaica’s Centre of Excellence for Renewable Energy (PCJ’s CERE) and the Caribbean Agricultural Research and Development Institute (CARDI) to conduct research on Castor and Jatropha for the production of Biodiesel.The proposed research project is  for three years,  from February 2011 to January 2014 and involves an establishment of pilot scale plant to produce biodiesel from castor raised at CARDI and subject the biodiesel for transport oriented applications.The managing director at PCJ Mr:Nigel Logan has said that the partnership would enable the nation to regulate it’s demand for oil and also to explore the native renewable sources for energy production.He further added that optimistic results would guide them to implement the Castor oil biodiesel in transport sector.It is important to remember that Jamaica has already made blends of ethanol with classical fuel which is being sold at energy service stations.

For details, please read:http://www.jis.gov.jm/news/hl.s1/26779

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Castor bio-diesel to minimize greenhouse gas emission

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Researchers from India have made bio-diesel from Castor oil by alkaline trans-esterification process and assessed it’s physio-chemical properties for locomotive engine based fuel applications.The experimentation with Castor bio-diesel showed promising results for the parameters studied and performed on par with the conventional diesel.They further claimed that by converting 10% of the total production of Castor oil to bio-diesel can minimize the global carbon-dioxide emissions by 79,782 tonnes per annum with zero carbon footprint.

For further reference:http://www.springerlink.com/content/u8535p22463r8377/