Cuba tests biofuel vehicle successfully

A vehicle was tested with biofuel for the first time in Cuba by running an automobile for 1500 kms using biofuel produced from the jatropha plant, state-run media reported Sunday.

To carry on the test the part of first 400 litres of the biofuel produced by the plant were mixed in a ratio of 70:30 with diesel to ignite a 2007 Toyota Hilux, the head of the Applications Center for Sustainable Development, engineer Jose Sotolongo, said.

The biodiesel was produced using the oil of Jatropha curcas, which is an inedible angiosperm, at a factory that was opened a week earlier in the eastern province of Guantanamo.

The factory is build with a capacity of producing more than 100 tonnes per year of liquid biofuel.

The official said that the vehicle used in the test is part of the BIOMAS-CUBA project, along with the participation of several government departments and the support of the Swiss Development Cooperation Agency.

He said that just after a week of testing the biodiesel, the automobile was seen running more effeciently than normal, a situation he attributed to the lubricating effects of the jatropha oil, state news agency AIN reported.

Moreover, the biofuel can also be efficiently used in gasoline-powered vehicles but "in the proper proportion", added Sotolongo.

Among the project's advantages, promoters emphasized, that the purpose behind using an inedible plant for production is not to compete with the island's food production, in contrast to other nutritive species - including corn and sugarcane - that are being used by other countries in similar biofuel production projects.

The project is being subsidized by the Cuban state with a vision to integrate energy and food production on the local scale rather than using human food crops to supply fuel.

-With inputs from IANS.