Nepali Times
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Doughnuts to diesel


DEWAN RAI


BIKRAM RAI

While other vehicle owners struggle to find a spot on the queue for petrol at gas stations, Vishwa Pratap Maskey drives his van past crowds. The shortage doesn't affect him.

No, Maskey's van is not battery powered. He is one of the few Nepalis who actually runs a vehicle on bio-diesel made from plants.

Maskey had bought a van to transport goods for department stores in Jawalakhel to his café in Boudha, but after watching a program on Discovery Channel which showed McDonalds using waste oil to operate its delivery vehicles, Maskey was inspired to experiment with his van.

He imported an oil filter from China for Rs100,000 and used soybeans that were unfit for human consumption because of long storage to make his own bio-diesel. It worked, so he turned to experimenting with waste oil from frying doughnuts and french fries in his restaurant in Boudha to produce bio-diesel to fuel his car.

"It was a big risk. I had to invest a large amount for the oil-filter machine and there was no guarantee that I would succeed," recalls Maskey, "but it went well, bio-diesel has saved me millions and I no longer have to worry about frequent fuel shortages."

Maskey's G-Café produces up to 40 litres of waste oil every day and this is enough to run the generator to provide electricity to his restaurant during power cuts.

Maskey's yellow van carries a 'this vehicle runs on biodiesel' sign and has accumulated more than 20,000 km on the roads of Kathmandu till now.

He had hoped that after seeing his van, more Nepalis would want to also switch to bio-diesel, but Maskey is disappointed that there are few takers. "A policeman tried to confiscate my vehicle once, because it ran on fuel that he had never heard of and thought was illegal," Maskey recalls, laughing.

Maskey says the type of bio-fuel he produces is best for NAE, DI and TDI engines for which he mixes 40 per cent diesel with 60 per cent bio- diesel. A four-cylinder 2 litre engine can run up to 10 km per litre. "If there was a centre where we could collect waste oil from hotels and restaurants throughout the valley, this could turn into a commercially viable venture and even heavy vehicles could start using biodiesel," he says.

Currently 60 per cent of the country's budget is spent on importing oil from India and Nepal Oil Corporation (NOC) finds itself on the brink of bankruptcy. Adulteration and leakage of fuel are rampant and increased power cuts have heightened Nepali's dependence on oil products. Although the government has made some effort to promote bio-fuel since the 1990s, Nepal still relies entirely on NOC.

Says Maskey: "Bio-fuel is not just a fashion statement for ecologists, it makes economic sense too. It is a necessity when fossil diesel is expensive or unavailable."

Read also:
Everything organic, RUBEENA MAHATO in KAVRE
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1. Animal Nepal
How can we contact this amazing person?

2. Jiwan Ninglekhu
Hats off!great job Bishwa!

3. S Blair
Vishwa is a true local hero with a big, big heart. The Nepali Times should consider doing a profile. SMD Boarding School

4. Carl
I think he is not good at maths. At 10 km range per liter and 20,000 km run so far he has used 2,000 liters of petrol. Assuming an average price over that time of Rs. 100 per liter, his cost would have been 2 lakh Rs.
I do not see how he saved millions of Rs.


5. nepalitimes
Vishwa Pratap Maskey's contact number is 9851025996 

6. B'road
Lets not go into calculation. It doesn't bother me. Vishwa has utilised the waste resources and has once again brought into mainstream that waste should be treated as resources. Given that country has crisis over petroleum products, biodiesel could be best option. It has been success in south American countries and I wonder why not in Nepal? After all our economy is still based in agriculture and there should be sufficient amount biomass�.something to think about. Once again all the best for your future endeavour. I will try to catch you when next in Nepal.

7. asmin
Can't you count 500 m as 0.5 KM or half KM? He only discussed about the vehicle that is publicly advertised. Have any body thought that he might using it in his cafe to heat the his oven to bake cakes? in generator?  

This might be just the beginning, it's application is huge, we can use it every where! However we must carefully consider the pollution...


8. Sudan
It's a great idea Vishwa dai!!


9. Manoj
Best and the appropriate idea for poor country like Nepal.

10. Dorje
You are great n never give up....Thanks for sharing ur great idea...

LATEST ISSUE
638
(11 JAN 2013 - 17 JAN 2013)


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