Croton Nut Oil (CNO) As Biofuel: Greener Than Diesel, New Hope For Africa

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Biofuel production industry in Africa has been chequered with controversies and failures. The palm oil production has been widely criticized for environmental damage, while the much-hyped jatropha crop miracle came crashing down as it required large investments and huge tracts of land to work. This time, it seems that there is a new hope for Africa's economy now as the Croton Nut Oil (CNO) is being touted as a biofuel that is cleaner and greener alternative to diesel, and does not require huge investments.

Alan Paul, a serial entrepreneur, established a company called Eco Fuels Kenya (EFK) in 2012 to explore the potential of crotons, and to bring the biofuel produced from it to the mainstream. EFK follows a completely local business model approach. It means that it sources its supply of croton nuts, process them, and sell the oil produced within 100 kilometers of the factory.

The Croton megalocorpus trees are commonly found throughout East and Central Africa. Until now, it was only being used as firewood. Now that it has been found that croton nuts can be a source of a biofuel that can be a cleaner and greener alternative for diesel, it can become a good source of income for farmers in Africa. According to the EFK, an indigenous tree might produce about 100 kilograms of nuts every year during normal rainfall. The production can be optimized to as much as over 300 kilograms with a little effort. Hence, the company is planning to plant its own trees in a 500-acre plot in 2017 and step in the 'orchard-model' for its supply.

Processing croton nuts to produce oil is also a low-tech and low-energy process compared with traditional fuel processes. Right now, the EFK is buying machines used to process walnuts or macadamia nuts, and modify them for its use. Until now, most of the CNO produced by EFK is being sold to local businesses that run generators. The by-products of the CNO are being sold too. Nut shells make good organic fertilizer while seedcake from the pressed nut is being sold as poultry feed.

Dr. Gerald Kafuku, principal research officer of the Tanzania Commission for Science and Technology, has published several papers on uses of croton oil, such as the one published by the NCBI. According to him, biodiesel from crotons may encourage afforestation, become an alternative source of renewable energy, and benefit local communities by providing them an additional source of income. "I like to tell people that croton will be a coffee or tea type of value chain," he says.