Biofuel Business

[Woodaaa]

Hi all

Just doing a bit of research here any info and opinions you have are welcome.

How is the biofuel business (motor biofuels) shaping up in thailand and who are the main players? Are there any smaller competing firms?

I think asia is going to be a real hot bed for the biofuel industry and want to go out there and get some experiance with a company in this field weather its in logistics import export or the processing side, Eventually finding a niche and starting up my own company (prob in import export) way way down the line overthere or in my own country which is painfully slow to get into this industry.

Thanks

[plachon]

Hi all

Just doing a bit of research here any info and opinions you have are welcome.

How is the biofuel business (motor biofuels) shaping up in thailand and who are the main players? Are there any smaller competing firms?

I think asia is going to be a real hot bed for the biofuel industry and want to go out there and get some experiance with a company in this field weather its in logistics import export or the processing side, Eventually finding a niche and starting up my own company (prob in import export) way way down the line overthere or in my own country which is painfully slow to get into this industry.

Thanks

Don't know anything about the business or processing side, but do know that an increasing number of farmers are getting into planting Jatropha sp. plants (known locally as "saboo dam"), as they produce an oil that can be a direct substitute for diesel. Hard to believe, but i've seen engines running straight after squeezing the oil out the Jatropha seeds and crudely filtering it. Could be the fuel of the future for farmers, currently being crippled by high diesel prices. In the South they've been promoting oil palm plantations for biodiesel for several years.

In Saraburi there is an ethanol production plant which uses sugar cane I believe, and gasohol seems to be catching on a fairly big way, so while it is a long way behind Brazil, the general trends are encouraging.

[Khun Jean]

Jatropha has an iodine value of 105 which makes it unusable to use in a diesel engine. The oil will polymerise and damage the engine. Filtering will not help because it is the chemical structure of the oil and not impurities. Converting unsaturated oils to biodiesel lessens the polymerising effect but doesn't prevent it.

Changing the oil into biodiesel is called esterification. Even then the end result should be chemically tested if it is suitable.

Esterification needs methanol or ethanol. The process with methanol is reasonable easy and even can be done 'at home'. The methanol is not very cheap which in turn makes the biodiesel not so cheap. In my opinion biodiesel is only a viable option when the oil prices are even higher. I think hydrogen will be a much better product for use in cars.

Another viable option but only in hot countries is straight vegetable oil (SVO). The only SVO that can be used directly is coconut oil. In colder climates it will solidify unless it is mixed with diesel (10-50%) or kerosene (5-10%).

You get the highest yield with palm oil, second with coconut oil. Jatropha is behind avocado, brazil nut and macadamia nuts.

I am not a chemist, i used google a lot trying to discover as many things about coconut as i can. While on this research SVO and biodiesel where mentioned a lot of times.

This is an interesting website and this page has a nice table with yields and iodine values

http://journeytoforever.org/biodiesel_yield.html

I am more interested in other products especially those made from coconut and on a very small scale, but i hope this little bit of info helps. My opinion about doing business in biodiesel in Thailand is that it is 'dangerous', or you have to be a really big company. I would categorize it in the same category as ice making and shrimp farming. Both know to be very protective markets.

Edited July 16, 2006 by Khun Jean

[Woodaaa]

Thanks for the input folks.

I do know the fuels but i have to get practical experiance. It looks like i will have to try and get a job with the big boys although i dont know if my qualifications will be technical enough for them

cheers