Comparative Sources of Feedstocks: Vegetable (Coconut Oil) vs. Fossil (Petroleum Oil)
FEEDSTOCK PETROLEUM COCONUT OIL-VEGETABLE
Main Source of Supply |
Underground Fossilized Oil |
Above ground Coconut Oil |
|---|---|---|
Main Streem Industries |
Drilling Extraction |
Harvesting Extraction |
Mid-Stream Industries |
Fractionation |
Fractionation |
Down Stream Industries |
Soap & Detergents, etc. |
Soap & Detergents, etc. |
Application Industries |
Coconut Resin in Paints, Inks, Adhesives |
Coconut Resin in Paints, Inks, Adhesives |
End-User |
Consumers: |
Consumers: |
The Major and Secondary Supply Resources of Bio- based resin being developed by various countries are as follows:
Countries |
Major Resources |
Secondary Resources |
|---|---|---|
USA |
Soya Oil |
Corn Oil |
UK |
Rapeseed Oil |
Castor Oil |
EU |
Linseed Oil |
Sunflower Oil |
Malaysia |
Palm Oil |
Palm Kernel Oil |
Philippines* |
Coconut Oil |
Lumbang Oil |
*Kemwerke Inc.
Developments in the Philippines
Kemwerke, a domestic company went into developing the Natural Oil Polyol (NOP) Bio-Resin based on coconut oil to provide the market with a product that is competitive in price and delivery yet friendly to the environment.
1) Supply stability
Coconut trees grows anywhere throughout the 7,100+ tropical islands of the Philippines archipelago,without interfering with other inland crops or having to cause forest clearing for plantation. For the past decade, the Philippines has been the worlds No. 1 supplier of Coconut Oil, providing 70%-80% of the global requirements.
2) High yield production
With an estimated yield of 2,689 liters* of oil per hectare, coconut plantation provides an efficient use of land space compared to most other plant-oil sources. No part of the coconut tress is wasted and it provides livelihood income for farmers and fishermen.
3) Low maintenance & sustainability
Considering its long life span of 60-80 years, coconut trees require modest maintenance while using only salt as fertilizer. Coconut trees are not affected much by typhoon, flash flood or drought. As such they are popularly used in beautifying landscape of resorts hotels
4) Outstanding qualities
Although there are many other plant-based sources of “vegetable” oil being used as industrial feedstock, the Philippine Coconut has some outstanding and highly attractive characteristics, arguably making it a prefered bio-based alternative. Rich in lauric acid, a saturated, medium-carbon- chain type of fatty acid, and a non-drying oil which makes it less reactive to oxidation.
5) Mitigation of the climate change.
During the life of the coconut tree, it fixes or absorbs more carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, weight for weight than any other plant material, The replacement of one metric ton of Conventional Resin derived from fossilized oil with one metric ton of Coconut Biorein could yield a net reduction of up to 7 metric ton of carbon dioxide in the environment. (Ref ____)