Thailand’s greener energy future

February 11, 2008 (Bangkok Post) – To cope with high oil prices and reduce greenhouse gas emissions, Thailand must pursue four options: development of renewable energy, energy efficiency, nuclear energy and carbon capture and storage. However, renewable energy has certain limitations, and options for each country are different depending on availability of natural resources, technologies and manpower. This is why the Thai government has mainly concentrated on renewable energy based on domestic raw materials and wastes.

Financial incentives together with the provision of information to investors and consumers have proved to work wonders, for instance in the promotion of biofuels. The consumption of gasohol (E10) more than doubled in 2007. With the introduction of E20 in 2008, daily demand for ethanol should reach two million litres by 2011 when new cars capable of using E85 should be on sale.

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Rethinking biofuels in the Philippines

January 23, 2008 (Inquirer.net) – The hottest debate in town involves something vital to motorists: fuel.  Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago, who ironically enough authored the Biofuels Act of 2007, wants to apply the brakes on its implementation, citing the recent warning of 1998 Nobel laureate for chemistry Dr. Hartmut Michel that our government’s biofuels program could endanger the country’s food security and harm the environment.  The Biofuels Act, which was signed into law in January 2007, requires the oil industry to sell diesel with a minimum 1 percent biodiesel blend (B1) within three months after the signing of the law and gasoline with 5 percent bioethanol (E5) in two years. The Biofuels Act aims to reduce the nation’s dependence on imported fossil fuels, save hundreds of millions of dollars in foreign exchange annually, cut the carbon-dioxide emissions believed to cause global warming and revive the moribund sugar and coconut industries.

50m gallon biodiesel facility completed in India

December 19, 2007 (Biofuel Review) – AE Biofuels (OTCBB: AEBF) has completed the construction of a 50 million gallons per year biodiesel facility located in Kakinada, India. The company has also announced that it has commenced the construction of a glycerin refinery adjacent to the biodiesel facility. The additional refining processes will, says the company, significantly increase the value of the glycerin by-product to be sold into Indian markets.The plant is connected to the Port of Kakinada, on the east coast of India, by pipeline, and has Export Oriented Unit status, thus benefiting from tax-free imports and other tax benefits. The plant is 74% owned by AE Biofuels and is 26% owned by one of the world’s largest palm oil suppliers, and a Singapore palm trading company.

Filipino and Chinese venture to build US$30 million ethanol plant

October 29, 2007 (BioPact) – US$ 30 million ethanol plant will be put up next year by independent oil player Eastern Petroleum and a Chinese partner in Sarangani province (→Flash Earth) in south-central Mindanao. Fernando Martinez, president of Eastern Petroleum, said the multi-million dollar ethanol plant would be a joint venture between his company and China’s Guangxi Estates.

The ethanol plant with construction expected to take place in the last quarter of 2008 and to be completed in 2009 will have a capacity of 150,000-200,000 metric tonnes per year (520,000 to 690,000 liters per day / 137,400 to 182,300 gallons US per day). The primary feedstock will be cassava.

Singapore Strives to Lead Next Round of Biofuels Race

October 29, 2007 (IHT) Second-generation biofuels, made from products like waste from agriculture and forestry, may not yet be a commercial reality, but that is not preventing Singapore from trying to position itself to become a major processing and trading hub in Asia for new clean energies. “We feel that if we’re going to focus on a sustainable type of activity we need to look beyond first-generation biofuels: Those made from food crops,” Julian Ho, executive director for energy, chemical and engineering services at Singapore’s Economic Development Board, said.

Praj to Back Phillipines’ Biofuels Sector

October 9, 2007 (Biofuel Review) – The Phillipines’ Department of Agriculture, has signed a Memorandum of Association (MOA) with the Indian company, Praj Industries, to promote energy crops and technology for biofuels production in Philippines. The MOA was signed during the visit of the Philippines President, H.E. Gloria Macapagal Arroyo to India this week (8th October).The Government of Philippines has mandated 5% blending of biofuels in all transport fuel sold in the country and is keen to increase the blending limits. It is also an effort to promote local feedstock including sugarcane, cassava (bioethanol), coconut palm oil (biodiesel)and new energy crops like Sweet Sorghum for bioethanol and Jatropha for biodiesel.

Indian Biofuels Market Report

September 26, 2007 (BUSINESS WIRE) – Research and Markets (http://www.researchandmarkets.com/reports/c69476) has announced the addition of the new Frost & Sullivan Report “Strategic Analysis of the Indian Biofuels Market” to their offering ($). This Frost & Sullivan research service titled Strategic Analysis of the Indian Biofuels Market provides an overview of the current and future markets for biodiesels in India. It also provides feedstock analysis, market drivers, restraints, and future strategies for the industry. In this research, Frost & Sullivan’s expert analysts thoroughly examine the biodiesel and bioethanol markets.