That the oleoresin called copaiba could be obtained by incising the trunk was first reported in England in 1625, in a work published by Purchas, "...a single tree is said to yield about 40 litres." (Grieve, 1931, reprinted 1974). Quoting nobel-laureate Calvin, Maugh says (1979), "Natives ... drill a 5 centimeter hole into the 1-meter thick trunk and put a bung into it. Every 6 months or so, they remove the bung and collect 15 to 20 liters of the hydrocarbon. Since there are few Rabbit diesels in the jungle, the natives use the hydrocarbon as an emollient and for other nonenergy-related purposes. But tests have shown, he says, that the liquid can be placed directly in the fuel tank of a diesel-powered car." (Maugh, 1976). The copal is used in lacquers, massage preparations, medicines, and paints. Wood and resin can be used for fuel. The wood is used in carpentry (Burkart, 1943).
Although not specifically recommended as a firewood, the balsamiferouswood, with density of 700-900 kg/m3, should burn readily, perhaps even when green. Calvin (1980) reports yields of 40 liters of hydrocarbon per tree per year, which can be "used directly by a diesel-powered car." Calvin sent a sample to Mobil Corporation to obtain a cracking pattern. "It produces the same kind of mixture in general as the oil from the E. lathyris [mostly aromatics (50%), LPG (25%), and low-molecular-weight fuel gas (3 to 4%) and coke]." (Calvin, 1980). In his seminar at Beltsville, Calvin (1982) seems to favor the terpenes of Copaifera to those of Euphorbia and hopes, by somatic hybridization to develop a Euphorbia, suitable for our climates, which will produce the sesquiterpenes. Apparently N-fixation has not been reported for this species.