As diesel prices soar, Bolivian farmer turns trash into tractor fuel

By Sergio Limachi LAJA, Bolivia, Oct 13 (Reuters) — In the Bolivian Altiplano, where rising fuel costs are threatening farmers' livelihoods, local resident Etson Machaca built a small plant that turns plastic bags, old tires and used oil into energy for his tractors. Though the operation is small, producing only between 80 and 150 liters of gasoline and diesel a day, the savings are a lifesaver for Machaca after Bolivia's centrist government last month ended state diesel subsidies in a bid to shore up public accounts. The plant produces fuel at a cost of between 7 and 10 bolivianos ($0.60 to $0.86) per liter. Prices for diesel on the open market are about double, at 18 bolivianos ($1.54) per liter. "We transform plastics, bags, tires, used oil. All of that has become raw material for us to produce fuel in the highlands," said Machaca, whose plant is located in Ancocala, a community in the rural municipality of Laja, about 35 kilometers (22 miles) from La Paz. The plant uses a process known as pyrolysis, which heats materials to high temperatures in the absence of oxygen to break them down into products that can be processed into fuel. Machaca said he does not sell the fuel, but use