Environmental research

Diesel fuel is used in tractors and some other agricultural machines in rural areas of Turkey. Due to increasing petroleum prices and difficulty in accessibility to gasoline stations at remote villages, the cost of agricultural production increases and that is one of the difficulties for the sustainability of life in rural areas. In this project, rape seed will be cultivated in 50 decar area at Hisarkoy and nearby villages 60 km to Ankara. Plant oil obtained from the seeds will be used as fuel for tractors and other agricultural machines. A small facility for pressing 50-100 kg seed per hour to produce oil will be installed at Hisarkoy. With the implementation of this project it is expected that usage of 4 tons of plant oil as fuel, will reduce 10 tons of carbon dioxide emission to the atmosphere. In Turkey 35 % of the population still lives in the rural areas. With the expansion of this project to other rural areas of Turkey the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions will be improved. This will help Turkey to fulfill the requirements of climate change agreement. Since the viscosity of plant oil is higher compared to the diesel fuel there are problems in their use as fuel in diesel engines. In order to solve this problem, mixing plant oil with diesel fuel and heating of plant oil to reduce its viscosity before sending it to the engine will be considered in this project. The performance of an engine running with this new fuel will be measured in collaboration of scientists from METU and engineers from Turk Traktor, one of the leading tractor manufacturers in Turkey. The studies will be shared with the other universities interested in renewable energies and the NGO s in Turkey with a workshop organised by METU and Turk Traktor. The plant oil will be tested on a tractor provided by Turk Traktor and on a hoe machine at Hisarkoy. The results of the study will be introduced to the tractor owners at Hisark y and nearby villages and using the plant oil in their diesel engined vehicles will be supported.

Turkey