[Stoves] Energy from whole coconuts

[Ian Vincent]

Hello everyone

I live in a large coconut plantation area on Taveuni Island, Fiji and we 
have a 'huge' surplus of unharvested waste coconuts. I can get them for 
free if I collect them myself, or can buy them @ US$5 per  100.

Strikes me that these whole nuts contain a large amount of energy, both as 
oil and as wood material. They also contain water of course. One idea was 
to open each end, perhaps with a 25mm drill, or bigger, drain the water, 
then have hot flue gas passing through the hole and the 'copra', thus 
drying it . At some point the 'copra' which is the coconut meat containing 
the oil would dry and could/would ignite. Then what, I am not sure. How to 
harvest this energy?

Some of you folks know a lot more about this stuff than I do, so thought I 
would pose the question."What alternatives are there for harvesting the 
energy from whole coconuts".? Are there any existing designs etc for 
cooking stoves burning whole coconuts?

Feedback appreciated

Ian