The vegetable oil produced from the Multi Functional Rural Fuel Platform's (MFRFP) extrusion process is an excellent renewable fuel. The vegetable oil is used to power the MFRFP's diesel engine and surplus oil is converted into renewable diesel and sold as fuel. Selling this oil as a high value, locally produced diesel fuel replacement generates hard cash for the local population that they can then use to buy the essentials of life.
Diesel, Gasoline and Kerosene
The Multi Functional Rural Fuel Platform's (MFRFP) can produce diesel, gasoline or kerosene, depending on the settings of the platform. The MFRFP is able to produce approximately 8 gallons of fuel per hour, equating to an annualized production rate in the 50,000 to 75,000 gallons per year range.
Fuel Sales
The MFRFP can produce fuel for sale in the local area via a very practical, but low cost pumps like the one shown in the photo below located in Cambodia:
Distribution of rural fuel
In situations where the equipment is located in areas where there is not sufficient local demand for the fuel produced, we envision setting up a small fuel distribution system. This would entail buying the fuel from the MFRFP owner and taking it to a market for resale, ensuring a revenue stream for the MFRFP owner.
Why is rural fuel so important?
Limited access to modern energy carriers and the services they provide has a disproportionate effect on the poor in rural areas. The use of more efficient energy carriers will typically correspond directly with higher levels of income, correspondingly inadequate access to modern energy is both a determinant and a manifestation of poverty. Sebastian Junger in an article in Vanity Fair describes why oil is so valuable: "one tank of gas from a typical S.U.V. has the energy equivalent of more than 60,000 man-hours of work - roughly 100 men working around the clock for nearly a month. That is the power that the American consumer can access for about $60 at the gasoline pump. If gasoline were a person, we would be paying 10 cents an hour for this labor" The global community firmly recognizes the centrality of energy services for achieving all Millennium Development Goals. At the ninth session of the Commission for Sustainable Development, held in 2001, it was concluded: “To implement the goal accepted by the international community to halve the proportion of people living on less than US$ 1 per day by 2015, access to affordable energy services is a prerequisite”.
