Guide technique pour une utilisation énergétique des huiles végétales
06/03/2009 - Article
A descriptive and technical guide to the Amazonian oil crops that could be used to produce biodiesel.
In Brazil, using ethanol as a fuel is now so common that it has outstripped petrol. However, relatively few people yet use biodiesel made from vegetable oils such as castor, jatropha, cottonseed or palm oil. Brazilian research organizations have made this topic a priority, as the oils look promising, but the available data is widely scattered. Fired by its experience and the fact that it has worked in the country, CIRAD came up with the idea of producing a guide compiling most of the available research and information on the topic. The result is a technical guide to using vegetable oils to produce energy. "There is strong demand for electricity in rural areas
", explains Patrick Rousset, the guide's coordinator. "This guide provides answers for professionals, students and researchers
."
The guide has three parts, the first of which contains comprehensive sheets describing the oil crops found in Brazil. It includes explanations of the crop cycle, pests, harvesting, processing, and so on. Part 2, which is highly technical and was written by Gilles Vaitilingom, concerns the extraction and packing of these oils and their adaptation to different engines or boilers. In the third part, Abigail Fallot and Philippe Girard suggest a methodology for an initial one-off economic assessment of fuel oils.
The guide is published in English, French, Portuguese (shortly) and Spanish, and was funded by the Agence française de l’environnement (ADEME) and the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs (MAEE). It was supported by the Brazilian Forestry Service (SFB), the autonomous public body in charge of agricultural research and development in Ecuador (INIAP) and La Selva National Agricultural University in Peru (UNAS). It was published in November 2008.
Guide technique pour une utilisation énergétique des huiles végétales
Coordinated by Patrick Rousset
Publ. Servicio florestal brasiliero - CIRAD
2008
- Category: Just out