My fondest memories of coconuts include those cartoons where they fall on top of the characters' heads. It's amusing, even hilarious, to see slapstick comedy like that. But coconuts are more than head-injuring props. Coconuts have been hailed as versatile flora: from their trunks to their fruits and even their leaves, every part of the plant can be used.
Being a tropical country, the Philippines abounds in this plant. It is no surprise then, that coconuts were chosen as a biodiesel source.
Coconut oil is extracted from the meat or kernel of the coconut fruit. Biodiesel from coconuts could come from the meat, the water, and even its trunk, the copra. It depends on the method that the company manufacturing the biodiesel uses, but the end point at the moment is that biodiesel still remains a mere additive to petroleum diesel in car fuels.
The sad part is that despite the abundance of the raw material, the process that it takes to create the biodiesel makes the end product expensive. However, if governments would push for a growing reliance on cleaner energy, creating widespread use of biodiesel may prove to be a growing, even booming industry.
We cannot stress the need for alternative energy resources enough. The fact remains that petroleum-based fuel is not only a diminishing, fast-depleting resource, it is also a major pollutant, not to mention a major contributor to global warming.
As we discussed in earlier articles, each source of renewable energy is not sustainable enough as of the moment. The costs are too high to implement, despite the fact that the future effects would be more than worth the investment. But maybe, just maybe, if we start adding our greener energy source facilities one plant, one farm at a time, the gradual changes we institute would be worth it.
-The Scribbler
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