COCONUT OIL AS FUEL FOR MOTOR VEHICLES

New Delhi, 17 October 2006

NEW DELHI, October 18 (INFA): Researchers in the Philippines have claimed that palm trees provide greener alternative to power. The Energy Department of the Philippines Government has discovered that Coconut Methyl Esther (CME) or Coco-biodiesel derived from coconut oil is equivalent to, or even better than, conventional diesel fuel used at present. This has been proved by the researchers in the U.S.

Recent independent tests conducted by the US Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) prove this fact.

The higher cetane number (70) of CME as compared to diesel (56) means it burns more completely, resulting in more power, better engine performance, longer mileage, and lower emissions.

A higher flash point of 107⁰C as compared to diesel 79⁰C indicates that CME is safer to handle and store than diesel, because it requires a higher temperature to ignite it.  Also, CME being nearly sulphur-free, is much less polluting than diesel.

The NREL research team also found that compared to other forms of biodiesel, CME offers excellent lubricity (protection of the engine from wear) solvency (cleaning of the combustion chamber), and detergency (cleaning of the fuel system).

Experiments involving coconut oil as a fuel substitute have also been carried out in the palm rich South Pacific islands.  Electricity companies in the islands of Vanuatu, Fiji and Samoa are testing blends of coconut oil and diesel to run power generators.

A report by the 20-member South Pacific Applied Geoscience Commission (SOPAC) has found that replacing 50 per cent of the diesel imports with coconut oil would result in cutting the impoverished region’s average import bill by 10 per cent.

Last year, about 200 mini-buses were successfully allow blends of up to 5 per cent of biofuels, Studies show that a 1 per cent mix of coco-biodiesel is enough to significantly reduce GHG emissions. ---INFA

COPS PLAYING WAR GAMES

HYDERABAD, October 18 (INFA): Playing “war games”! That is what scared cops in several “sensitive” police stations across Andhra Pradesh are doing these days. 

Police personnel enact encounter scenes and train their guns against imaginary Maoists at least for 15 minutes every morning and evening in their police stations.

This is their way of bracing up for an “enemy attack”. The exercises are aimed at educating police men on what they should do in the event of an attack.

“Within the police stations there should be no confusion on how the situation should be handled”, said a high ranking police official---INFA