Have you ever wondered why trees must be cut and burned to provide energy? This has lead to a massive reduction of forest cover.
The Colombian innovator Paolo Lugari initiated in 1984 the regeneration of the rainforest in the Orinoco savannah. As the plantation grew to maturity, pines were tapped. The resin is processed locally into colophon, a raw material for the paper, ink and paint industry, and turpentine, an inflammable biochemical.
Since gasoline was hard to get after the second world war, Mr. Soichiro Honda launched his motorbikes powered by turpentine generated from Japanese forests. However, these bikes caused excessive smoke caused by impurities in the fuel.
Las Gaviotas started filtering out all impurities from the turpentine. The end product is a quality fuel that can be used both in diesel and gasoline engines. Diesel tractors operate impeccable in tropical climate on 100 percent turpentine reducing atmospheric pollution by 40 to 45 percent. Motorbikes operate successfully on a blend of gasoline and turpentine.
