New Guinea Residents Driving on Coconut Oil

Bougainville island residents in New Guinea have found a solution for expensive motor fuel of their vehicles – coconut oil.

They have constructed several mini-refineries up to now which manufacture coconut oil, and it is used as a supplement for diesel fuel. Police vehicles, ambulances, priests and local residents have been using the new fuel for quite some time now.

Bougainville resident came across the idea of using the new motor fuel after four years of their everyday life constantly being dependent on the import of expensive diesel. Due to occasional shortages, many affairs used to be discontinued. One of the coconut refineries is run by a German immigrant, engineer Matthias Horn who said that there are already interested parties for the fuel abroad, in Iran and several European countries.

-Is it not great when you can say that your car is driven by fuel which grows on trees- Horn jokes. But, he is used to teasing because, as he says, some call him “the crazy German” and ask him how he can do such things to his “pet” – fill its tank with some coconut juice which is normally used for frying fish”. It is important to mention that this is not the first time coconut fuel was being used in Bougainville. During civilian disarrays and the struggle for independence, the residents were forced to switch diesel for alternative fuel, and the choice came down to coconut oil.