MANDY SMITH
The koala's diet staple may help solve the world's oil crisis, if a Hastings teenager has his way.
A motor fuelled by eucalyptus oil potentially r an twice as long and more cleanly than one on petrol, Hastings Boys' High School Year 9 pupil Michael Findlay found.
Concerned by global reliance
on oil, the 13-year-old set out to find a practical alternative in his entry in the Hawke's Bay regional science fair.
A friend was growing eucalyptus globulus (blue gums) for their oil and having difficulty selling it, so Michael decided to incorporate it into a project on the fuel crisis.
He took apart a standard lawn-mower and attached a rev counter to measure speed. He hoped to see how much eucalyptus oil he could add before it "conked out".
"The results were quite spectacular," Michael said. "An engine filled with 100 percent eucalyptus oil ran twice as long as one with 100 percent petrol."
Virtually every part of the adaptable, fast-growing blue gum can be used - pulpwood, mulch, essential oils and commercial-grade oils for cleaners. It was used as a biofuel for power stations and it had the potential to power vehicles, he said.
At present it was not a viable option for consumers unless it was imported: "But with more plantings, wider recognition of it as fuel with double the running time, I'm sure costs would come down," he said.
"Michael has won acclaim for his project, receiving a highly commended in the science fair, the Hawke's Bay Regional Council award for the environment and a PanPac forestry award.
