Dr. Walter Bradley, Baylor Distinguished Professor, is working with Dr. John Pumwa of Papua New Guinea in using coconut oil for diesel fuel. Pumwa, deputy head of the department of mechanical engineering at Papua New Guinea University of Technology, completed doctoral work in mechanical engineering at Texas A&M University in 1997. He is the son of early converts of Papua New Guinea's first Australian Baptist missionaries. He credits his Christian lifestyle as the influence that enabled him to become the first Papua New Guinean to earn a doctorate in an engineering field.

Pumwa devised the idea of using coconut oil for fuel as he passed abandoned coconut plantations along the coastlines on his drive to the highlands. Piles of coconuts lay on the ground uncollected because the dried coconut kernel, or copra, prices had fallen so low that plantation owners could not afford to hire workers to pick coconuts. Copra formerly was a chief export from Papua New Guinea. When Pumwa considered other markets for the fruit, he realized improved coconut oil would be an acceptable substance for fuel and could possibly provide a commodity to be exported

Alternative Fuel Researach Photos