Bolivian farmer turns waste into fuel for his tractors

Etson Machaca told Reuters his small plant produces between 80 and 150 litres of gasoline and diesel a day for use on his farm.

The plant is in Ancocala, a community in the municipality of Laja about 35 kilometres from La Paz. Machaca uses plastic bags, old tyres and used oil as feedstock. He said he did not sell the fuel but used it in tractors and other agricultural equipment.

The October 13 Reuters report describes pyrolysis, a process that heats materials without oxygen to obtain products that can be processed into fuel. Machaca put production costs at 7-10 bolivianos a litre, compared with an open-market diesel price of about 18 bolivianos.

The savings matter after Bolivia ended state diesel subsidies in September. Many families in the Altiplano have replaced draft animals with tractors and depend on fuel during the planting season. The report provides no independent assessment of the fuel's quality or the plant's environmental performance.