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Researchers say a new stove fueled by used cooking oil may be an environmentally friendly way to reduce kerosene use.

Safriadi, a researcher from the Agency for the Assessment and Application of Technology (BPPT), said in a presentation posted on the State Ministry of Research and Technology’s Web site that the used cooking oil, commonly known as jelantah , can be used as a source of biodiesel fuel to power cooking stoves.

It can be used as a substitute for pricey kerosene and often-scarce liquefied petroleum gas.

The waste cooking oil will burn when its temperature reaches 300 degrees Celsius.

“We hope that the public can take advantage of it even though this is not a new technology and BPPT only modified the stove’s burner,” Safriadi said, adding that the modification was necessary to ensure that the used cooking oil, which has a high viscosity, would burn well.

He refused to go into detail over the specifics of the modifications but said the stove had a neutral carbon dioxide balance.

BPPT has been trying to find a substitute for kerosene since 2004 when world oil prices soared.

The research is part of a government program launched in 2006 to encourage the use of vegetable oil as an eco-friendly fuel.

Used cooking oil has potential as a plant-based alternative fuel. It can reduce emissions of sulfur by 100 percent and carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide by 50 percent.

Waste cooking oil is not soluble in water and therefore causes environmental damage if it is disposed of in water or on land.

Consumption of cooking oil may also cause cancer, due to its high content of saturated fatty acids, which can cause increased cholesterol, hypertension and impaired blood circulation.



JG, Antara