Biodiesel SA

BizNews, Pietermaritzburg Chamber of Business' monthly magazine. October 2003

JUDGING by the number of awards garnered by small businesses operators in and around the city, entrepreneurship is alive and well in Pietermaritzburg.

Leading the charge is biodiesel pioneer Darryl Melrose who claimed one of the five categories – and R100 000 - up for grabs in the country’s richest entrepreneurial competition, the EnterPrize Business Plan competition.

Melrose won the business expansion category on the strength of his ground-breaking work to produce biodiesel from used cooking oil, and his efforts to extend the industry through the cultivation of an oil-rich seed bearing plant.

Sharing the spotlight with Melrose was Sabatha Miya from Bergville who claimed the prize for the greatest contribution to social enterprise development, courtesy of a proposed cultural village in the northern Drakensberg.

Running a close second was furniture maker Kevin Miles from Richmond.

The other winners were Danielle Govetto whose rice-based health foods business plan won her the best start-up award, Crispin Jackson’s revolutionary beehive that was adjudged the best export venture, and Phina Phira whose bed and breakfast venture won the black economic empowerment award.

A pioneering bio-fuel project holds out unprecedented empowerment opportunities.
Echo, Supplement to The Natal Witness, Thursday, 29 July 2003

A UNIQUE plant holds the key to South Africa’s ability to substitute expensive crude oil imports with a home-grown fuel.

The idea is not as radical as one may think, as diesel engines commonly in Europe and the Americas are run on bio-diesel, a fuel derived from vegetable oils including sunflower, soya, and rape.

It is also being pioneered in South Africa by a Hilton entrepreneur, Darryl Melrose, who has been distilling bio-diesel for the past two years from used cooking oil.

Bio-diesel is entirely compatible with all diesel engines and can be used either in undiluted form or mixed to any ratio with petroleum diesel. It is also mechanically good for a motor in that bio-diesel’s lubricating qualities are at least 50% superior to that conventional fossil dieseline.

Moreover, bio-diesel is an environmentally-friendly fuel as it contains no carbon, reduces exhaust emissions by up to 80%, and is renewable.

Melrose has been producing bio-diesel for the past two years and demand for his product convinced him to look for alternative sources of vegetable oil. The choice fell on the Jatropha curcas plant, also known as the physic nut.

National and provincial government have endorsed his efforts and a Jatropha Task Team under the auspices of the KZN department of agriculture and environmental affairs (DAEA) was convened.

While the focus now is on its oil-producing qualities, Jatropha was extensively used as a living fence in the fight against the Sahara Desert. It is extensively cultivated in Mali, and its intrinsic hardiness and oil-producing capacity prompted its introduction in southern Africa.

Initial research suggests the oil yield is markedly higher under sub-tropic growing conditions. It is in this respect that it offers empowerment opportunities to individuals and groups, particularly in the province’s sugar-cane growing areas, who realise the potential of the trees’ crops.

Unlimited demand means that the crops are guaranteed to be bought back as part of a contract supply agreement.

Current investigations at the DAEA farm paint an overwhelmingly positive picture of the plant’s potential. Growing under optimum conditions, the plants have started to bear fruit after only 18 months. A further 200 hectares are currently being planted in what is likely to be the precursor to a drive to cultivate as many hectares as possible.

Details of the sale and distribution of saplings will be announced at an open day at the Owen Sithole College of Agriculture near Empangeni in September

For more information on biodiesel, Jatropha and the Open Day, visit www.biodieselsa.co.za or phone (033) 3943072

A pioneering bio-fuel project is about to roll out an ambitious growth plan that will help South Africa substitute some of its imported diesel.
The Mercury, Wednesday, 2 July 2003

Three years after an experimental distillation of bio-diesel from used cooking oil, entrepreneur Darryl Melrose is part of a private public partnership to cultivate a unique oil-seed-bearing plant.
The project is driven by the need for raw material from which to extract bio-diesel, an environmentally friendly fuel that contains no sulphur, reduces exhaust emissions by up to 80%, and is totally compatible with any diesel engine.

“ Bio-diesel can be used in unadulterated form or can be mixed with conventional diesel to any ratio,” said Melrose.

Bio-diesel is positively beneficial to a diesel engine in that its lubricity is significantly superior to that of fossil-derived diesel, so much so that a large percentage of Melrose’s production is being used in a lubricating additive.

The process to convert vegetative oipted its introduction in southern Africa. However, the focus was on its fencing potential and the extraction of glycerine for the manufacture of soap.

The cultivation of the crop is now being redressed by Sanewe’s task team that has determined the oil yield is markedly higher under sub-tropic growing conditions.

“ This means that Jatropha is ideally suited for cultivation along the KZN coastal belt, and we’re particularly keen to identify fallow or unproductive land within the parameters of environmental legislation,” said Sanewe.

However, environmental concerns about it becoming an invasive alien have proved unfounded as mature trees at the DAEA’s experiemental farm on the Makhatini Flats in Maputoland have not escaped.

“ These trees were planted as part of a long-abandoned experiment during the mid 1980s and there’s no evidence to suggest Jatropha potentially will become an alien invader,” said Sanewe.

Unlike annual crops, Jatropha has a life span of about 50 years and certain cultivars may bear up to three harvests a year.

Current investigations at the DAEA farm paint an overwhelmingly positive picture of the plant’s potential.

“ Growing under optimum conditions, the plants have started to bear fruit after only 18 months,” said agricultural technician Morgan Naidoo.

Motivated by Jatropha’s initial success, 200 hectares are currently being planted in what is likely to be the precursor to a drive to cultivate as many hectares as possible.
To this end, a Jatropha Open Day is being planned for the middle of September at the Owen Sitole College of Agriculture near Empangeni.

For more information on biodiesel, Jatropha and the Open Day, visit www.biodieselsa.co.za or phone (033) 3943072.

The establishment of South Africa’s first commercial venture to produce and market alternative liquid fuel on the outskirts of Pietermaritzburg is well underway, driven by the quiet determination of bio-diesel pioneer Darryl Melrose.

Not the first in South Africa to produce a vegetable oil-based fuel that is wholly compatible with the petroleum derivative – that honour belongs to Free State sunflower farmer Johan Minnaar – Melrose nevertheless advanced its commercialisation significantly.

Melrose first identified the potential of bio-diesel when he was faced with a surfeit of used cooking oil, courtesy of his partnership in Rigsons Snack Foods outside Pietermaritzburg.

His investigation took him to the US and Europe to see the fuel and its processing in action and, having learnt all he needed to know, Melrose built his first processing plant.

Standing him in good stead was his technical background as the former maintenance manager for Simba Chips in Pietermaritzburg before its closure in 1997 as part of a group restructuring exercise.

The plant proved a great success and Melrose was able to produce up to 600 litres of bio-diesel a day, raw material permitting. Soon he started to supply a range of customers including an earthmoving company, a haulier, and a number of private consumers.

Technically, bio-diesel offers lubricity qualities the fossil fuel industry can only dream about. It is also significantly cleaner than petroleum diesel – it emits zero sulphur, reduces exhaust smoke by up to 75% and carbon dioxide by 80%, as well as degrades about four times faster than fossil fuels after a spill.

The benefits do come at some cost though with bio-diesel motors losing up to 10% in engine power and freezing at a higher temperature than conventional diesel under extreme cold.

Melrose last year put the fuel to the test when he and close friend Dino Santoro undertook an 8 000-km odyssey through southern Africa. A specially constructed long-range tank provided enough fuel for 5 000 km and they only switched to petroleum diesel in northern Mozambique.

The fuel proved its mettle and buoyed by the success of the trip, Melrose built a second plant with a distilling capacity of 1 000 litres a day, notwithstanding the inadequate and irregular supply of used oil.

Despite stepping up efforts to collect used oil from restaurants, it became apparent that a new source of vegetable oil was needed.

Melrose had the good sense to talk to government from the start and he built up a sound relationship with officials from the minerals and energy, and treasury departments. It was these discussions that informed Finance Minister Trevor Manual’s decision to incentivise the use of vegetable-oil derived fuels.

Talk of alternative sources of raw material gathered momentum about a year ago and a suitable crop was identified. Research on the plant is underway with the full support of national and the KZN provincial government.

To this end, Melrose is about to enter a joint venture with a provincial government-funded organisation in what will be South Africa’s first-ever foray into the commercial cultivation of an oil-seed crop to produce bio-diesel.

Indications are that the crop will do particularly well in the heat and humidity of north-eastern KZN, but will also grow in most frost-free areas.

The implications are far-reaching on a number of fronts, including the agricultural and empowerment potential of a crop that is far less susceptible to drought than say sugar cane and maize.

With an unlimited market, demand for the product is likely to establish an entirely new economic matrix.

Biodiesel producer welcomes tax rebate.
The Natal Witness, Thursday, 21 February 2002

FINANCE Minister Trevor Manual’s announcement that consumers who use non-fossil fuels are eligible for a 30% tax cut has been welcomed by Hilton resident Darryl Melrose who is pioneering bio-diesel in South Africa.

Melrose, who has the capacity to distil 2 000 litres of bio-diesel a day, has been negotiating with department of finance officials over the past year regarding the sale of the fuel and the tax implications.

" Up until now the product has beeen Vatable with no other levies attached, but users claim back the VAT."

Melrose said he will be in contact with the ministry shortly to discuss the ramnifications of Manual’s announcement.

Melrose produces environmentally-friendly fuel from spent cooking oil and has been supplying a number of concerns and private individuals with bio-diesel.

Quite how the ministry of finance will administer the income generated by bio-fuel is not certain, but it will most likely be either on the basis of a rebate system, similar to that of diesel, or being incorporated into the existing levy system with the user qualifying for a 30% discount.

" Either way, the end result will be greater affordability for consumers," said KPMG tax manager Sanjay Harillal.

Manual’s move has been welcomed by environmentalists. " The use of incentives to motivate innovative changes in consumer behaviour is to be encouraged and bodes well for bio-diesel," said environmental consultant Chris Albertyn.

Revolutionary Fuel
The Mercury, Wednesday 17th October 2001.

FACED with a surfeit of used cooking oil, Hilton entrepreneur Darryl Melrose turned to technology and found the answer in an environmentally friendly fuel that is compatible with petroleum diesel.

Mr Melrose currently distils about 600 litres of biodiesel a day that he distributes among friends and business associates in and around Pietermaritzburg. The product, Mr Melrose explained, may well be revolutionary but the technology behind biodiesel has been around for at least a decade in the United States and Europe.

"I remember reading about vegetable oil-derived liquid fuels and started looking for more information," he said.

Mr Melrose learnt all he needed to know to build his own distillation plant outside Howick, his technical background as the former maintenance manager for Simba Chips in Pietermaritzburg standing him in good stead.

The closure of the Simba factory in 1997 as part of a group restructuring exercise was the catalyst for Mr Melrose’s foray into the alternative fuels realm. He teamed up with former Simba colleague Eddie Jackson to produce an independent range of fried potato snacks. The business thrived and the spiralling amounts of waste oil generated by the frying process prompted Mr Melrose to investigate biodiesel.

Particularly appealing to Mr Melrose was the environmentally friendly qualities of the fuel. "Biodiesel is a clean energy fuel in that it is made from renewable energy sources," he said, adding that biodiesel can be distilled from any vegetable-derived oils.

Other advantages include zero sulphur emissions; the reduction of exhaust smoke by up to 75% and 80% less carbon dioxide, and the fact that it degrades about four times faster than fossil fuels after a spill.

Mr Melrose also cited the health benefits and quoted Ames Mutagenicity test research in America that biodiesel reduces cancer risks by 90% compared with fossil fuels.

Africa's friendly fuel
The Natal Witness, Tuesday 9th October 2001.
Quietly and without fanfare, a Hilton entrepreneur has developed a liquid fuel that is made from vegetable oil to present an alternative to fossil derivatives, writes DEREK ALBERTS.

WHILE the technology to convert vegetable oil into a fuel for diesel motors has been around for a while, the product - biodiesel – is a revolutionary breakthrough.

Boasting a number of advantages, biodiesel sits comfortably within the realm of alternative, or clean energy. Not only is it distilled from renewable energy sources, it is also environmentally friendly and boasts a number of technical advantages with respect to the mechanics of the internal combustion engine.

Much time, effort and investment have gone into the development of biodiesel by the man behind the fuel, Darryl Melrose. "The concept of biodiesel has been in practice in the United Sates and Europe for the past decade and much of my information I’ve obtained from various sources abroad," he said.

To protect his investment, Melrose has trademarked Biodiesel SA. Currently producing about 600 litres a day from vegetable oil, he supplies friends and business associates in the vicinity.

" I have limited production capacity and I’m not selling it commercially," he said. The fuel does hold out commercial potential however, and Melrose is co-operating closely with national government to ensure he does not fall foul of the law. "I’ve had a wonderful reception from the Department of Minerals and Energy Affairs and the Department of Finance who recognise its strategic value," he said.

A keen outdoor enthusiast who upholds strong environmental ethics, Melrose believes biodiesel offers the kind of advantages fossil fuel producers can only dream about.

" It does not produce any sulphur emissions, one of the major contributors to acid rain and ozone depletion; it reduces exhaust smoke by up to 75% and 80% less carbon dioxide, and it degrades about four times faster than fossil fuels after a spill."

Biodiesel also offers health benefits and, citing Ames Mutagenicity test research in America, Melrose said biodiesel reduces cancer risks by 90% compared with fossil fuels.

Its molecular make-up also makes biodiesel a compatible fuel that can be added to and mixed with conventional diesel in any ratio. This means that one can run an engine on biodiesel and petroleum diesel without a problem," Melrose said.

In fact, biodiesel is positively good for an internal combustion motor in that it offers significantly enhanced lubrication qualities which in turn promotes the longlevity of an engine.

The downside to biodiesel is a loss of up to 10% in engine power, Melrose said. "It has a relatively low octane rating which means that the kilowatt output suffers somewhat," he said.

Another drawback is that biodiesel is susceptible to extreme cold and will freeze quicker than conventional diesel. "The antidote is a fossil derivative which of course compromises the environment-friendly positioning of biodiesel," said Melrose.

The other major constraint is production capacity in terms of the availability of cheaper vegetable oil. For this reason, the sourcing and recycling of used vegetable oil is an option, said Melrose.

Undaunted by the negatives, Melrose recently undertook a 8 000-km odyssey through southern Africa to put biodiesel to the test. "I wanted to test the fuel under the most demanding conditions imaginable and reckoned a trip through Botswana, Zambia, Malawi and Mozambique would do the trick," he said.

Melrose teamed up with good friend Dino Santoro of Italia Engineering who kindly sponsored a long-range fuel tank. "About 5 000 km was done on biodiesel and we only started to purchase petroleum diesel in Mozambique," said Melrose.

The trip went exceedingly well and, from a testing perspective, was an unqualified success. "Other than the odd puncture and getting bogged down in mud, there were no problems. The fuel proved itself and under those sort of conditions, the loss of power wasn’t an issue," he said.

The future beckons brightly for biodiesel, and more so in view of the imperatives of environmental degradation and sustainable technology. The fuel is attracting great interest and Melrose has his hands full managing the requests for information.