Turning Local Crops into Biodiesel

KHON tv
Story Updated: Jun 5, 2008 at 5:15 PM HDT

By Vanessa Stewart

With the shutdown of many local companies producing milk, fruit and meat, Hawaii is dependent on the mainland to get products.

An EPA grant to conduct research on four local crops to make biodiesel locally hopes to change that--making Hawaii more self-sufficient.

Kukui nut, Coconut, Jatropha and Castor bean are the local crops researchers hope can create large scale production of biodiesel.

"Kukui nut oil has never been made into biodiesel so we don't know if we can meet the quality standards of biodiesel," says Kelly King, Pacific Biodiesel.

Thursday, two machines went to work, showing us just how the oil is produced.

Researchers at the Oceanic Institute use soybeans as a benchmark.

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