1. Build a solar-powered biodiesel generator for a school in Pichon, Haiti. The name of the school is Lakal Pa Nou. The solar thermal conductor will also use direct solar heating to heat the seeds prior to pressing, because hot beans yield more oil.
2. Work with local Haitian farmers to plant Jatropha. Jatropha has made steady improvement in the value-adding processes which convert seed oil into marketable products. The EcoMac Biodiesel Team has served as technical advisers during the first attempts at transesterification. The Haitian staff has now made several batches of biodiesel on its own.
3. Advise those at the school, Lakal Pa Nou in Pichon, Haiti on the process of making soap out of the glycerin byproduct. Soap promises to be a high value product promising a positive cash return for farmers. The Biodiesel Team has been “test marketing” as it develops soap products, which include bar soap and liquid soap. The latter is especially promising because of a strong local demand for shampoo. It also has utility for handwashing in schools and at health clinics. Once we increase production, soap will be in the local market and sold to other schools and health clinics in the region. Local farmers will grow citronelle, basil, and rosemary for soap fragrances.
4. Another product the Haitian staff thinks will sell is scented biodiesel for use in oil lamps. They think people will like the fact that biodiesel doesn’t produce the noxious fumes of kerosene, which is generally used. The citronelle in JP’s lamp oil repels mosquitoes, too. Soap and lamp oil have good cash value and can be made with the modest quantities of Jatropha that will be produced during the start-up period. As quantities increase they can supply engine fuel for transportation and generators.
5. Expand cultivation of the Jatropha plant. The Biodiesel Team will work with a farmers association in the town of Phaeton, 5 miles east of Terrier Rouge. This is very dry and unused land. The community of Phaeton is extremely poor and must be rescued periodically by humanitarian feeding programs. While food crops don’t grow in this area, Jatropha does and can earn cash for families to buy the food and things they need. The cows can continue to graze alongside the Jatropha, which they do not eat.
