Technology Consultancy Centre (TCC) of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, (KNUST) is developing a rural technology for the extraction of Jatropha oil to be used as substitute for diesel oil and kerosene in the rural areas of the country.
According to TCC, Jatropha oil has been successfully used to run a diesel engine while a prototype Jatropha oil lamp tested by the centre has shown encouraging results. Professor J.S.K. Ayim, Vice-Chancellor of KNUST, announced this in his report to the 35th congregation of the university in Kumasi at the weekend.
A pilot Jatropha oil production unit is to be established at Walewale in the Northern Region for a shea-butter processing group. The oil from the production unit will be used to fuel the diesel engine, which funs the equipment at the shea-butter processing unit.
A 10-acre Jatropha farm is under cultivation to provide raw material for the Walewale project while structures for the production unit are under construction. Professor Ayim indicated that the use of Jatropha oil as substitute for diesel oil is currently receiving worldwide attention, especially in Mali.
The Jatropha oil extraction project and the promotion of improved cook stoves popularly known as ‘Ahebensu’ are being funded by the Global Environmental facility (GEF) and the United National Development Programme (UNDP) under TCC’s search for renewable energy sources.
The report said TCC’s Food Processing Unit continued to make a positive impact on the small-scale processing of vegetable oils in the rural areas. Last year, the Centre, in collaboration with GRATIS foundation, set up a shea-butter processing unit at Gbimsi in the East Mamprusi District of the Northern Region.
The unit, using an environmentally friendly and energy saving technology developed by TCC, is capable of processing 500 kilogrammes of kernels a day to produce 180 kilogrammes of good quality shea-butter of export standard.
