Yogyakarta Villagers Turn Local Fruit into Biodiesel

The kamani tree grows well throughout the coastal area in Yogyakarta, and produces abundant fruit. Traditionally, the fruit is used for cooking and firewood. But villagers in Yogyakarta are using it for biodiesel.

This new “green business” is also helping the local economy as students earn some extra cash for collecting the fruit, which are sold to local kamani fruit buyers.

[Arini, School Student]: (female, Javanese)
"We collect the fruit after school around one o'clock but not every day."

[Samino, Kamani Fruit Buyer]:
"The fruits were used for firewood but now these children sell them to get extra money which helps their parents."

A local biodiesel processing unit was set up seven years ago, and after much research and trial and error, the perfect fruit was found.

[Wahyudi Anggoro Hadi, Biodiesel Researcher]:
"We saw the trees had a lot of potential. There are many kamani trees around here. After several trial and error tests, we concluded that the fruit could be processed as biodiesel fuel."

The villagers then created a machine which converts the oil into biodiesel. The waste from the processing is used as food for cattle.

Just over three pounds of the kamani fruit produces one liter of biodiesel. It reduces gas emissions and has many other advantages. The seed has a higher yield ratio than the local jathropa and palm oil. And the oil burn power is twice as high compared to kerosene.