“Coconut Oil Based Biodiesel Development: The Power of Local Resources to

Support National Energy Sustainability”

1
Eki Herkules, 2Sabila Putri Dian, 3Vioni Derosya
1, 2, 3
Departement of Agroindustrial Technology
Faculty of Agricultural Engineering
Bogor Agricultural University, PO BOX 220, Dramaga, Bogor 16680, Indonesia
kikules@yahoo.com, latakhof_45@yahoo.com, sabila_pd@yahoo.com
Published in : Journal of The Second International Conference On Green Technology And Engineering
(ICGTE) 2009

Abstract
Since the price of fossil fuel increased, researches compete to create alternative energy. One of the prospective
alternative energy is coconut biodiesel. Coconut is promising as the renewable energy because of several reasons.
First, there is a policy from government to decrease the use of fossil fuel as energy resources and replaced by 17%
proportion of alternative energy. Second, Indonesia has abundance coconut fields. In 2004, it has 3.873.000 ha of
coconut fields and about 97.07% of them owned by civilians. Third, Indonesia’s coconut value is still lower than
others (compared to major competitor – Philippine) because its use just limited on food that have less value added.
Fourth, the solar price in remote area is very expensive due to its access difficultness. Fifth, making bio-diesel from
coconut is relatively faster and easier than any other bio-fuels, and resulted in 93 % yields. Sixth, prospective market
of coco-diesel, since the use of solar in many purposes for coastal area reached 2.5 million kilolitres a month. The
development on biodiesel based on coconut oil in the coastal area, will go along with the government major strategy
to develop alternative fuels by establishing the ‘Energy-Independent Village’, that will support the energy existence
and sustainability on the remote area based on local resources. The urgency of creating alternative energy is already
there. Thus far, our country has been trapped in a cycle. An energy crisis induces the government to launch
campaigns and studies on alternative energy, only to lose interest when the crisis has passed. Because all this years,
alternative energy development in Indonesia just stuck on research, but lack of implementation. All that is needed is
the ability to focus on the long-term targets and the will to do what is necessary to get there.
Keyword: coconut oil based biodiesel, sustainability, remote area, local resources

Background caused the increasing of its price due to the

Though the price of world petroleum is
cheaper than few times ago, it is certain that the price
of petroleum will soon rises again because this is a
kind of energy that can’t be renewable by humans.
People should wait for million years for its formation
or to find the new petrol field. This will create an
endless problem of energy supplies. The only answer
for these problems is by using renewable energy.
In this century, renewable energy is no more
a new thing; in fact it is now become a trend to create
green energy. But its development also create new
problem, the forest opening to plant palm trees put
Indonesia on the third rank country that produce
carbon emissions after China and United States.
Plants for livestock such as corn, which used to feed
animals, now used by United States to create bio-
fuels, and then impact the meat price. The use of soy
beans as a material to produce bio-ethanol also
competition between food and fuel.
United States as a main supplier for
Indonesian’s soybean stock is now also developing
bio-fuel from soy beans. It means our daily food
supplies now become bio-fuel to substitute petrol.
The role of demand will make our farmers interested
more to sell soybeans as a material for bio fuels
rather than for food, because it is no more valuable. It
is no good for children and human race especially in
the third world countries.
Those thing, then encourage us to propose
coconut as renewable source of energy. Coconut can
be processed as a bio-diesel. Biodiesel, as defined in
the Iowa State University Office of Bio-renewable
program website, is any biodegradable fuel
“produced through a process in which organically
derived oils are combined with alcohol to form ethyl

Corresponding Author: Sabila Putri Dian, Department of Agro-industrial Technology, Faculty of Agricultural
Bogor Agricultural University, Dramaga, Bogor 16680 Indonesia, Tel: +6251 421001
E-mail: sabila_pd@yahoo.com
or methyl ester.” In contrast to petrol-based fuel,
whose adverse impact on the environment is well
known, biodiesel is a natural hydrocarbon with very
toxic emissions. Moreover, while the specter of an
ultimately limited supply hangs over fossil fuels,
biodiesel comes from a renewable source—plant or
animal oil.
The policy supported
The government has proposed an
intervention program aimed at cutting back on power
and oil consumption and developing alternative and
renewable energy resources. The past years have seen
the emergence of some choices of alternative fuel,
and words like biodiesel, bio-ethanol, coco biodiesel,
and biogas are slowly creeping into common usage.
These alternatives may very well pave the way out of
a seemingly insurmountable problem. Indonesian
government has been issued INPRES (President
Instruction) No.1 Year 2006 at 25th January 2006 that
emphasize to prior biodiesel on developing the
supply and use of vegetarian fuel.
Biodiesel
Biodiesel refers to fuels derived from plant
or vegetable oils that can be used as a blend with
diesel fuel or a complete substitute for diesel fuel. It
can be used in diesel engines without any engine
modifications. Biodiesel has important environmental
benefits relative to other transport fuels. It is
sustainable and renewable with very positive energy
balances. It is safely biodegrade able and has far
lower greenhouse gas emissions than do fossil fuels.
It offers scope for recycling waste oils and produces
far less local air pollutants than fossil diesel. [1].
Coconut as biodiesel
Indonesia has abundance natural resources
diversity. Those natural diversities are so useful,
either for foods or for energy. For all these years we
can export petroleum all over the world and become
the member of OPEC. But, since 2004 Indonesia
become net-importer of petroleum and going to be
expelled from OPEC [2]. This condition forced
Indonesia to seek alternatives to meet our energy
requirements. Empower coconut farmers to become
active players in the energy production process.
One of the abundance sources of energy for
Indonesia is coconut. About 3.8 million hectares of
coconut lands spread in Indonesia, with the 1 ton of
coconut/hectares/year; coconut becomes the most
2
little sulfur content, which when blended with petrol-
based fuel even in little amounts, translates to less
potential bio-diesel to be develop, from the
availability point of view.
Characteristic of coco-biodiesel
In very simple term, Coconut Methyl Ester
(CME) is coconut oil that has been converted to a
diesel-like product. Plant oil has two main
components known as glycerin and fatty acids. The
fatty acid component has volatility feature similar to
diesel. But in oil form, glycerin is attached to the
fatty acid which causes the volatility of fatty acids
to be suppressed. Glycerin has a high boiling
temperature which is why plant oil makes excellent
cooking oil.
However, volatility is necessary for
combustion when plant oil is used as fuel for internal
combustion engines. It therefore necessitates the
removal of glycerin. The separation of glycerin from
fatty acid is done by a reaction process known as
esterification. Methanol is reacted with coconut oil
with the aid of a catalyst to effect phase separation.
After a sufficient time of reaction, the
methanol and glycerin are drawn out of the mixture
leaving just the fatty substance known as methyl
ester. Coco Methyl Ester is a diesel-like derivative of
coconut oil. To a petroleum technologist, the fatty
acid profile of coconut oil reveals a world of
information especially when the oil is converted to
various types of esters for lubrication, additive
formulations, and other special applications:
First, when coconut oil is converted to a
diesel-like product like methyl ester, its wide range of
distillation from C8 to C18 becomes functional.
Distillation range is the range of temperatures in
which liquid transforms to vapor that becomes
combustible with oxygen. Over 60 % of coconut oil
constitutes medium saturated carbon that will provide
good front-end distillation for better combustion and
cold starting performance.
Second, the high level of saturation in
coconut (91%) consisting mainly of “easy-to-burn”
saturated medium carbon chain gives two (2)
excellent benefits: 1) oxidation stability making coco
methyl ester less prone to bacterial growth (a storage
issue in other biodiesels), and 2) high cetane number
which enhances combustion and acceleration
response.
Third, the medium carbon fatty acids
(MCFA) of coconut especially lauric acid (C12) has
excellent solvency or solubility. Such feature makes
CME a perfect biodiesel for developing countries like
the Philippines where old diesel engine population
comprises the majority. Old means heavy carbon
deposits in combustion chamber and clogged fuel
nozzles resulting in very inefficient combustion and
Coco-biodiesel vs. another bio-fuel
All biodiesels are excellent enhancers for
diesel fuel proven to be effective in reducing
emissions and in improving engine performance. But
unlike biodiesel from rapeseed (Europe); soybean
(U.S.); canola (Canada); and palm (Malaysia), coco
biodiesel is unique due to its short and medium
carbon chain making it a superb and versatile
biodiesel. All Methyl Esters have high lubricity and
Diesel Carbon Chain Profile
Boiling Point oF
C8 C9 C10 C11 C12 C13 C14 C15
258 303 345 384 421 456 488 519
LocalDiesel
Methyl Ester (ME) Carbon Chain Profile
Boiling Point oF
C8 C10
258 345
Coconut ME
Palm ME
Soybean ME
Canola/ Rapeseed ME
Benefits of coco-diesel:
1. Socio-economic
- Coco-diesel can be produced locally, so it
cost less than imported fossil fuels. This can
give an important economical impact, by
reducing the cost of buying imported fossil
fuels and also increased jobs and income
for coastal people
- Enhancing the use of local resources to
support energy existence in coastal (coconut
trees existed in almost all parts of
Indonesia)
- The added value of coconut
high smoke emission. The solvency element of CME
cleanses the fuel lines, decarbonizes the combustion
chamber, and declogs the fuel nozzles to restore
engine efficiency.
oxygen content including coconut. However, the
added features of high solvency, high cetane number,
and excellent distillation range are specific only to
Coco Biodiesel due to the presence of carbon 8, 10,
12, and 14 apart from carbon 16 and 18 which are the
typical profile of most biodiesels. With five (5) fuel
enhancing features versus only 2 or 3 features of
other plant biodiesels, that is proved that coco-diesel
is a premium biodiesel to replace the old types of
fuel.
C16 C17 C18 C19 C20 C21 C22
548 573 601 625 649 673 697
C12 C14 C16 C18 C20
421 488 548 601 649
[3]
The benefit of biodiesel from coconut is that
the trees already spread in almost all parts of
Indonesia islands, while palm only concentrated in
several areas and jatropha still have to develop on its
planting. Coconut can reach the tidal areas on
Sumatra and Kalimantan, to the dry area on NTT and
NTB. By that, Tons of new jobs would be made
ranging from plantation workers to mechanics. This
planting area can absorb 20 million employments
from farmers and their families. From 3.8 million
hectares of coconut lands, 98 of them owned by
civilians.
Besides, Farmers would be getting more
money for crops, helping them live a better life.
Other local economic development opportunities
exist for creation of productive rural enterprises
3
based on the coconut crops. These enterprises will
help to motivate farmers to maintain the trees,
enhance their yields, and generate incomes.
Additionally, opportunities exist for developing
enterprises to employ women and stimulate business
ownership.
Data from Asia Pacific Coconut Community
(APCC) showed that fresh coconut consumption of
Indonesians ranged on 36 seed/capita or 7, 92 billion
One of the reasons why the copra oil
industry in many coastal areas is suffering is because
they have a relatively small size and little
opportunities for economies of scale. Because of the
low return for the harsh work involved with the
cutting and drying of copra, many rural farmers are
diverting to other cash crops, leaving coconuts
unharvested in plantations. Regional potential
production estimates amount up to a total of 100
million liters of coconut oil.
The traditional production of copra (flesh
from a coconut) and its oil, an industry inherited from
colonial times, has been suffering from low world
market prices and high transport costs. In a number of
countries, the copra industry is nearly extinct,
especially through the high inputs of labor required,
with low return. By switching to mechanized
production of local fuel substitutes instead of
focusing on highly competitive exports, economic
niches can be found on the islands themselves.
The development on biodiesel based on
coconut oil in the coastal area, will go along with the
government major strategy to develop alternative
fuels by establishing the ‘Energy-Independent
Village’, that will support the energy existence and
sustainability on the remote area based on local
resources.
The concept of Energy Independence village
is to explore and develop the natural resources of a
village (in this case coconut) to support the energy
existence of it, reducing its dependence on imported
petroleum, and raising the wealth of its people.
2. Environmental
- Coco-diesel is a renewable energy resources
and reducing pollutants
The making of coconut becomes coco-diesel
will reduce pollutants in two ways. First, at the
condition when a country has substantial coconut
groves; however the market for coconuts and coco-
nut oil is in decline. Many small farmers have had to
leave the industry, crop yields have decreased and
most coconut husks and shells are either burned or
left to rot, creating air pollution problems.
Second, coconut oil that is added as a
combination of diesel fuel can produce a clean
burning coco-diesel. Coco-diesel is the best bio-fuel
4
seed (51, 1%). If the production of coconut in
Indonesia reached 15, 5 billion seed/year, so the
coconut seed that can be processed in industry is 7,
57 billion seeds (48, 9%). This number can fulfill the
needs of 29 industry units with 1 million capacities
per day.
to reduce pollution. Though for small amount of
addition (1%), can make a massive difference. 2 % of
coconut oil addition can reduce pollution and gas
emission for 90% and one (1) liter of Coco Biodiesel
combusted with diesel fuel reduces CO2 emission by
3.2 kg.
The burning of coco-diesel only emits CO2
and energy. CO2 that is emitted is can be absorbed by
coconut tree for its respiration. Its burning doesn’t
add CO2 amount in the atmosphere because it can be
absorbed back by plants.
Coco Biodiesel is an excellent emission
cleansing fuel that can be blended with fossil fuel as
well as with other biodiesels to address the quest for
clean air. Perhaps the available supply of Coco
Biodiesel may be insignificant at the onset, but its
development can be a very positive and promising
direction. Developing supply of Coco Biodiesel only
requires extensive replanting and fertilization of
coconut trees. It is unlike the expensive exploration
and drilling cost for crude oil which gives no
assurance that crude oil can be found. Tropical
countries have the proper climate, proper soil, and
plenty of lands for planting.
Shortages of coco-diesel:
- The problem that Indonesia face is a part of
coconut trees (30%) are too old and in bad
condition. By that, there is a plan from the
government to do an intensification and renewal
until year 2013 for 1, 4 million hectares of land
and extent of coconut fields for 700.000 hectares
of land. [4]
- The solidifying temperature of coco-diesel is low
(about 20 – 25 0C) [5]
Further rationalization and mechanization of
the coconut oil supply chain will increase the security
of supply; however this requires significant
investment in the coconut oil sector. After
restructuring and replanting of coconut plantations,
most coastal area have the potential to provide one
third to half of their current diesel imports.
The urgency of creating alternative energy is
already there. Thus far, our country has been trapped
in a cycle. An energy crisis induces the government
to launch campaigns and studies on alternative
energy, only to lose interest when the crisis has
passed. Because all this years, alternative energy
Suggestion
- There should be an economic stimulus to the
farmers in the coastal area to extent the coconut
fields and renewing the trees.
- There should be a socialization on the use of
renewable energy (coco-biodiesel) to the
peoples
- There should be a policy from the
government to encourage the conversion of
coco-biodiesel and prior the potential area
There should be a sustainable development on
the coco-biodiesel technology and marketing.
- There should be integration between
academics, government, citizens, and private
sectors in encouraging energy research and
implementation.
development in Indonesia just stuck on research, but
lack of implementation. All that is needed is the
ability to focus on the long-term targets and the will
to do what is necessary to get there.
References
[1] Siegel, Judy and Perla Manapol. Assessment of a
Potential Coconut-based Bio-Diesel Refinery
Initiative in Fiji, and Establishment of New Rural
Enterprises. 2006.
[2] Anonym.Perlukah Indonesia Keluar Dari OPEC ?
from Republika, 09 Nopember 2004.
[3] Rafael Fardiaz. Coconut oil as Diesel Fuel vs.
Coco-biodiesel. Journal. 2006.
[4] Dirattahun. Potensi Kelapa sebagai Bahan Baku
Biodiesel. Article. 2008
[5] Tim Sekretariat MAPI-2006. Minyak Kelapa
sebagai Bahan Bakar Alternatif. 2006.