Tamanu-Based Renewable Industries
These days the electricity and fuel energy crisis hit a number of countries in the world. In China, India, and Singapore, electricity supply is disrupted due to various reasons, due to the scarcity of coal and gas, in the UK and Indonesia the case is similar, fuel is available but distribution is constrained.
This kind of crisis will tend to increase in the future due to the increasing awareness to reduce emissions of air pollutant gases followed by emission tightening policies in a number of countries and the global financial industry. When the global insurance industry begins not to provide insurance coverage for air polluting industries, the banking sector will also not be able to provide funding for these industries. As a result, it will be difficult for fossil-based energy supplies to keep pace with energy needs which tend to increase along with economic growth.
In a situation like this, a breakthrough in the field of new and renewable energy is urgently needed to start significantly replacing all types of fossil-based energy, whether in the form of coal, oil, or gas. One that has the potential to fill this need is oil from the seeds of the tamanu tree (Calophyllum inophyllum) which we call Nu Oil (from tamanu oil, or it can also be read as new oil).
This tamanu tree can have multiple uses, it can live in very arid lands, former mines, swampy peat soil, can live on the coast where the water is salty and even have the opportunity to live in the desert. So it becomes a green tree that can still absorb CO2, and produce oxygen massively in places where other trees are reluctant to grow.
Mature tamanu trees will produce tamanu fruit seeds which contain very large amounts of oil, up to 70% of the dry pulp of tamanu seeds. Cold-pressed oil produces virgin tamanu oil (VTO) which can replace raw materials for the pharmaceutical, cosmetic, and wellness industries in general, which so far still use raw materials derived from the petrochemical industry which are not environmentally friendly and unsustainable.
The second pressing using a hot press or extraction with solvents will produce crude tamanu oil (CTO) which can be a raw material for the fuel industry and the green chemical industry to replace all kinds of chemicals that are now the basic raw materials for our daily needs.
The CTO processing process can be through the fluid catalytic cracking (FCC) pathway or using the enzymatic pathway. The results of these two processes will produce mixed products, namely hydrocarbon chains of various length.
Furthermore, by going through the fractional distillation process, the mixed products can be separated according to the length of the carbon chain which affects the evaporation temperature of each ingredient. Which evaporates at room temperature can generally be used for biol-LPG and bio-feedstock products. At a temperature of around 70 C, gasoline will be obtained for motor vehicles. At temperatures in the range of 120 C, naptha will be obtained for industrial chemicals. At about 180 C it produce kerosene for jet fuel mixtures.
Furthermore, at a temperature of 260 C, diesel fuel will be obtained, which is called drop-in biofuel or green diesel which can be directly used as fuel for heavy transportation vehicles and industrial machines — 100% replacement of fossil diesel. Green diesel is the majority product because tamanu oil has the largest content of triglycerides from fatty acids with a range of C16 and C18 chains.
At a temperature of 300 C, you will get lubricating oil for vehicles and machines. At a temperature of 360 C, you will get fuel oil for ship fuel and industrial fuel in general. The rest is solid waste that can still be used for various subsequent derivative industries.
With this vast potential, almost all fuel needs ranging from household fuel, light transportation, heavy machinery, aircraft, ships, industry, and power plants can be produced from this tamanu oil.
Because the process is simple, even regions or countries that do not have adequate natural resources can use this tamanu fruit seed commodity as an energy solution. In the form of seeds it is easy and cheap to transport around the world, and only then is the process of becoming a fuel where the product is intended to be used. With such character, regions or countries that cannot plant tamanu trees themselves can plant in other regions or countries and become buyers when the trees begin to bear fruit.
This will benefit both parties, both the region or country that grows it and the region or country that will buy this Tamanu fruit seed commodity product. Countries or regions that plant will be able to green their arid lands, fertilize them, and turn them into productive land. While countries or regions that cannot grow them themselves can still build their energy security based on the seeds of this tamanu fruit that they plant in other regions or countries.
If such arrangements are carried out on a massive scale by a large number of countries in the world, it will produce a very broad reforestation effect, a lot of employment, and energy security that is truly green and carbon neutral. Such arrangements will also accelerate the achievement of net zero for the regions or countries involved in this project.
All the technologies needed for this process, from seeding, planting, oil extraction to processing it into various types of fuels and industrial raw materials are mature and ready to be implemented. The development of skilled workers for industrial processes can be carried out simultaneously with the growth of trees that will bear fruit at the age of about 4 years.
Tamanu trees generally can live and be productive until the age of 50 years, during which these trees greening the earth, absorb CO2 emissions and continue to produce fuel and industrial raw materials that are carbon neutral. This project was initiated and developed by Nue Energi Asia, institutions and corporations interested in this Tamanu-based renewable industroes can contact us at ceo@nue.asia.
[1] Muhaimin Iqbal, CEO, New Energy Asia. Contact : CEO@NUE.ASIA
