A village of 100 using 1-2 tablespoons of cooking oil per person a day needs about 497-993 kg of oil a year (1,100-2,200 lb), and 1,430-3,300 lb after adding 30-50% for lamps, soap and leather. At 40% oil and 60% recovery that is 4,583-9,167 lb of seed for cooking alone, 4-8 acres of sunflower, and a crushing energy of tens to hundreds of kilowatt-hours a year.
Part of Oil Pressing at Scale
Sizing a village’s oil supply from demand to land, seed, press time, crushing energy and storage, with the arithmetic shown at each step.
Demand: 1-2 Tablespoons A Day Is Less Fat Than The Diet Needs
The carrier sets a minimum of 1-2 tablespoons of oil per person per day for cooking. A tablespoon is about 14.8 mL (recalled); at 0.92 kg/L it weighs 14.8 x 0.92 = 13.6 g, and 2 tablespoons weigh 27.2 g. For 100 people for 365 days:
- 1 tablespoon: 13.6 g x 100 x 365 = 496,500 g = 497 kg, which is 497 x 2.2046 = 1,095 lb
- 2 tablespoons: 27.2 g x 100 x 365 = 993 kg, or 2,189 lb
These match the carrier’s 1,100-2,200 lb. In volume that is 497 / 0.92 = 540 litres to 993 / 0.92 = 1,079 litres, which is 143 to 285 US gallons (the carrier gives 140-280).
The calories are small beside the need. At 9 kcal a gram (the corpus’s figure for oil), 13.6 g is 122 kcal and 27.2 g is 245 kcal a day. On an assumed 2,500 kcal diet (an illustrative value) that is 122 / 2,500 = 4.9% up to 245 / 2,500 = 9.8% of calories, while the carrier says a healthy diet needs 20-35% of calories from fat. Cooking oil covers only a fraction; the rest comes from the germ in whole grain, legumes and animal fat. Do not read the 1-2 tablespoons as the whole fat supply.
Add The Non-Food Uses
The carrier adds 30-50% for lamps, soap and leather. On its 1,100-2,200 lb: 1,100 x 1.3 = 1,430 lb up to 2,200 x 1.5 = 3,300 lb.
From Oil To Seed To Land
Seed needed is oil divided by (oil fraction x recovery). The carrier gives sunflower at 35-45% oil and the corpus gives 50-70% recovery, so the factor runs from 0.35 x 0.50 = 0.175 to 0.45 x 0.70 = 0.315, with a middle case of 40% oil and 60% recovery, 0.40 x 0.60 = 0.24.
| Case | Food only (1,100-2,200 lb) | With non-food (1,430-3,300 lb) |
|---|---|---|
| Best, factor 0.315 | 3,492-6,984 lb seed | 4,540-10,476 lb |
| Middle, factor 0.24 | 4,583-9,167 lb | 5,958-13,750 lb |
| Worst, factor 0.175 | 6,286-12,571 lb | 8,171-18,857 lb |
At 1,150 lb of seed per acre (the middle of the carrier’s 800-1,500), the middle case needs 4,583 / 1,150 = 4.0 up to 9,167 / 1,150 = 8.0 acres for cooking, matching the carrier’s 3-8, and 5,958 / 1,150 = 5.2 up to 13,750 / 1,150 = 12 acres with the non-food share. Across the best and worst cases and the full seed range, food-only needs run from 3,492 / 1,500 = 2.3 acres to 12,571 / 800 = 15.7 acres (Oil Yield per Acre by Crop).
Press Time, Crushing And Heat
- Hand press: at 1-3 lb of oil per batch (carrier), 1,100 lb needs 1,100 / 3 = 367 batches and 2,200 lb needs 2,200 / 1 = 2,200; at 15-30 minutes each that is 92 to 1,100 hours of pressing, before loading and cleaning. A manual press is a household tool (Manual Screw Press Construction).
- Crushing: the middle-case seed is 2,079-4,158 kg. At the grain band of 15-60 Wh/kg (a placeholder; oil seeds have not been measured here) the energy is 2,079 x 15 = 31 kWh up to 4,158 x 60 = 250 kWh a year (Powered Press).
- Heat: warming 100 kg of seed by 45 K takes 2.25 kWh, so 2,079-4,158 kg takes 47-94 kWh (Crushing and Heating).
Storage
At 4 L per jar (3.68 kg or 8.1 lb of oil) the year’s 1,100-2,200 lb is 1,100 / 8.1 = 136 up to 2,200 / 8.1 = 272 jars, kept full and sealed in a cool store. The shelf lives in the carrier (sunflower 6-12 months) mean the stock cannot be carried over a bad harvest for more than a year, so press in batches through the year and store the dry seed rather than the oil where you can (Rancidity Prevention; keeping seed dry protects it better than pressed oil, a recalled general principle).
What You Need
- Headcount and an oil allowance per person
- Measured yield and recovery from your own plots and press
- Land, press, crusher power and a cool store in the sizes above
Method: Budget The Year
Step 1: Set the allowance and headcount. Compute oil in kilograms and pounds.
Step 2: Add the non-food share.
Step 3: Choose the crop and the recovery from measurement, or use the middle case.
Step 4: Compute seed, acres, press hours, crushing energy and jars.
Step 5: Add a land margin of one extra plot for a poor year.
Common Mistakes
- Treating 1-2 tablespoons as the fat requirement. It is 5-10% of calories.
- Using the carrier’s oil-in-seed yield. It ignores the press.
- Overbuilding storage. Oil older than a year is spoiled.
Land, dust and presses
Do not take the land from the food crop without checking the calorie budget (Caloric Budget for a Community). Presses hold large forces, and seed dust and press cake are combustible: keep flame away and never test for dust with a flame.
What’s Next
- Learn next: Yield and Planning - the planning sequence
- Combine with: Meal and Cake Utilization - the cake the plan produces