We have moved away from fossil fuels and switched to organic fuels for the many generators that The Sumba Foundation and Nihiwatu Resort operate. The resort alone has been consuming 13,000 liters of diesel every month at a cost of more than US$10,000.00. They prefer to see that money going into the local community rather than to the government oil company.
We project that in the next 10 years, US$1 million dollars can be channeled into the local economy where it is needed the most. Already, the average monthly copra (dried coconut) purchases are US$7,810. This is one of the most exciting economic projects that we are initiating and one that has the potential to change thousands of family’s lives without the need for an educated workforce or training. All that is needed is to buy coconuts from farmers who are already growing these commodities, it’s that simple!
We started construction of our production facility in July 2007 with a generous grant provided by the French cosmetics company Sisley. The construction and fit out of the factory was completed by April 2008 and in May we started production under the guidance of Martin Tobias. Martin was the former CEO of Imperial Oil, the largest bio-diesel producing company in the USA. Martin formulated the mixtures we needed for producing high quality bio-diesel from coconuts and trained our production staff.
The operations of the production facility are now managed and staffed by The Sumba Foundation. Most of the processing is fully automated, but we do employ five staff from nearby villages. The equipment maintenance is provided by Nihiwatu Resort mechanics.
It is the local Sumbanese and the environment that will benefit the most from this project. Reducing fossil fuel emissions, wherever possible, is important and everyone, no matter how much or little they contribute to global pollution, should do their part to find ways to reduce pollution. Bio-diesel burns cleaner and produces up to 75% less emission than petroleum based diesel fuel. Combined, The Sumba Foundation and Nihiwatu Resort have 16 generators and 3 diesel vehicles, and by 2012, these numbers will double. Being able to make major emission cuts will certainly help and also set a good example for others to follow.
One of the priorities of The Sumba Foundation is to create economic opportunities for the Sumbanese people, opportunities that will provide them with a means to break out of the extreme poverty they are trapped in. The problem is complex and there are no easy solutions. In Sumba, an island with very few resources for their people to take advantage of, the population is particularly disadvantaged due to the island's geographical isolation, the scarcity of water, poor health and lack of education. Creating economic opportunities that are lasting is a major challenge. Most of the projects we envisage will take years to implement. However, buying coconuts, a well established and underused commodity in Sumba, is easy and immediately available.
Copra is a traditional commodity, one that the villagers have been producing for personal use and for sale. However, lately the market has diminished now that palm oil production in other parts of Indonesia has taken over the oils commodities market. This bio-diesel project will re-establish a market for local copra and provide real income for hundreds of families. We have been able to start pumping real money into the community and over time the amount invested will be considerable. So much so that we can foresee this bio-diesel project injecting US$100,000.00 each year into a poverty ridden community, to people that really need it the most.
The ongoing sustainability of this project is guaranteed primarily by the fuel needs of The Sumba Foundation and Nihiwatu Resort, the latter operating three generators, 24 hours a day. The Sumba Foundation also operates another 15 smaller generators to provide power for water pumps and clinics. Both also require diesel fuel for their trucks and buses. As of July 2008, the combined resort and foundation diesel consumption was 13,000 liters per month, the majority of which is consumed by the resort. At a cost of US$0.87 per liter, the combined expenditure is US$11,310.00 each month.
The resort has been and will continue to be looking for alternative power sources, but the truth is that any alternative system will only be able to supplement, not replace, the overall needs of the resort's requirements. Generators, trucks and cars will always be needed and as the resort expands and the foundation grows, their power needs will double and then triple. We can expect that today’s diesel fuel expenditures will never decrease. No one knows where fossil fuel prices will be in the next five to ten years but all agree that even though there may be fluctuations, overall prices will rise.
20% of the coconut oil used for the production of bio-diesel is separated as glycerine. Over time that is a massive amount of product. Although there are hundreds of products that can be made from glycerine, few are feasible to implement in Sumba.
What we can - are are doing is making glycerine soaps that we distribute to the many thousands of villagers who now have running water thanks to The Sumba Foundation. In the future, we may also be making custom soaps and massage oils, body lotions and lip balms for sale to Nihiwatu Resort and other hotels on the island. The glycerine is now being used in our organic farming projects. We teach farmers how to make compost for use in their farms and the"cleaned" glycerine from the bio-diesel factory is one of the components in the process.
Another product that can be produced at this production facility is “virgin coconut oil” for sale at the resort and even for export to Bali and overseas. This product will be packaged and sold, bringing income and awareness to The Sumba Foundation. Virgin coconut oil is growing in demand and already selling in bulk for over US$5.00 per liter FOB Indonesia.
Bio-diesel is a fuel made from vegetable oil that runs in any unmodified diesel engine. Bio-diesel can be made from any vegetable oil including oils pressed straight from the seed (virgin oils) such as soy, sunflower, canola, coconut and hemp. In Sumba we are using dried coconut (copra) because it is a commodity that is readily available locally and in sufficient quantities (an estimated 9,000 trees) that are needed to produce up to 1,000 liters of bio-diesel daily. At 2,260 kilograms of oil per hectare, coconuts provide one of the highest yields of any oil producing crops.
Bio-diesel use dates back over 100 years to the invention of the diesel engine. Bio-diesel contains no petroleum, but it can be blended at any level with petroleum diesel to create a bio-diesel blend. Nihiwaut Resort uses 100% bio-diesel in its generators and has found that their generators are running cleaner and cooler on the bio-fuel. Bio-diesel is simple to use, biodegradable, nontoxic and essentially free of sulphur and aromatics and it burns up to 75% cleaner than petroleum diesel fuel.
Bio-diesel runs in any unmodified diesel engine. There is no “engine conversion” typical of other alternative fuels. The diesel engine can run on bio-diesel because it operates on the principle of compression ignition whereby air is compressed and then fuel is sprayed into the ultra-hot, ultra-pressured combustion chamber. Unlike gasoline engines, which use a spark to ignite the fuel/air mixture, diesel engines actually use fuel to ignite hot air. This simple process allows the diesel engine to run on thick fuels. Since bio-diesel is chemically similar to petroleum diesel fuel, you can pour bio-diesel right into the fuel tank of any diesel vehicle.