The Department of Science and Technology (DOST), on Tuesday announced that a Filipino scientist developed a fuel that could potentially replace liquefied petroleum gas (LPG).
“Nipahol,” a fuel based from the ethanol extracted from nipa was developed by Filipino scientist Dr. Fiorello Abenes, a professor emeritus at CalPoly Pomona University in California and also a DOST Balik Scientist
Dr. Abenes together with his team at Mariano Marcos State University (MMSU) in Ilocos Norte also invented a nipahol-fueled stove that could replace LPG stove. The nipahol-fueled stove has a burner and functions through the pull of gravity.
Abenes said. that “Dirty cooking is still a problem in many of the rural areas of the Philippines. The use of firewood or charcoal emits unhealthy levels of particulates and noxious gases that affect the respiratory tract, mostly affecting women. Ethanol as cooking fuel is cleaner,”
He also said “We have developed a prototype that we hope we can scale up and make into a cooking stove suitable for indoor use and in commercial establishments,”
The DOST said that. Dr. Abenes recently led the technology transfer and commercialization of the Village-Scale Nipahol Technology prototype,
The Balik Scientist Program of the DOST aims to promote information exchange and accelerate the flow of new technology into the country by strengthening the local academe personnel.
The said DOST program encourages Filipino scientists, technologists, and experts who are outside the country to return and share their expertise to promote scientific, agro-industrial, and economic development, including the development of the country’s human capital in science, technology, and innovation.