Energy Ministry to review target for ethanol use
WATCHARAPONG THONGRUNG
THE NATION

BANGKOK: -- ENERGY MINISTRY permanent secretary Areepong Bhoocha-oom has ordered a revision of the country's ethanol-usage target for the year 2021.

He said the national "oil-industry master plan" had not yet been finalised because the ministry had to review its plans for promotion of alternative fuels.

The ministry previously set a goal to boost the use of ethanol in the country to 9 million litres a year by 2021, from about 3.5 million litres at present. But because of the sharp drop in world oil prices, petrol is now cheaper than ethanol, which could make it difficult to achieve the target.

"We are reviewing what should be an appropriate target. If we promote E85 gasohol - which is 85 per cent ethanol - too much, the state will have to subsidise that product," he said.

Nevertheless, Areepong said the ministry still wanted to encourage more usage of E20 gasohol. It will also scrutinise the appropriate cost structure of ethanol and coordinate with the Ministry of Agriculture and Agricultural Cooperatives on the latter's plan to increase the yield per rai of sugar-cane and cassava farmers, in a bid to help lower the costs of locally made ethanol.

Thammayot Srichuai, director-general of the Department of Alternative Energy Development and Efficiency, said it was reviewing the ethanol target and its measures to promote production. The department has recognised that excessive promotion of ethanol for use as a motor fuel might result in local oil refineries having a surplus of petrol and needing to export much of it. The department also has to consider whether the outputs of sugar cane and will be as planned by the Agriculture Ministry.

"We should have all the figures by the end of April," he said.

Witoon kulchroenwirat, director-general of the Department of Energy Business, said the 20-year oil-industry master plan would have to take into account the alternative-fuel promotion plan, which would affect the usage of each petroleum product.

Under the current circumstances, it will be hard to achieve the 9-million-litre ethanol-usage target by 2021 unless the government seriously promotes E85. But while oil prices remain low, it will be difficult to persuade more motorists to use E85. There is also a limited number of service stations that offer E85 and of car models that can run on it.

The oil plan will set a framework on the fuel-price structure, and pinpoint which fuels the ministry will promote; ensure that fuel specifications comply with Asean standards; and promote investment in infrastructure such as oil pipelines and strategic oil reserves.

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/business/Energy-Ministry-to-review-target-for-ethanol-use-30257535.html


-- The Nation 2015-04-07

The production of ethanol is the main reason for all the corn growing in the North, and that is the cause of much of the smoke pollution there as well. Ethanol for fuel is a bad idea all around. But don't tell that to the central planners and their wealthy patrons who own the corn fields and ethanol plants.

They don't make ethanol out of corn anymore. They use sugarcane and cassava.

The production of ethanol is the main reason for all the corn growing in the North, and that is the cause of much of the smoke pollution there as well. Ethanol for fuel is a bad idea all around. But don't tell that to the central planners and their wealthy patrons who own the corn fields and ethanol plants.

Tell that to Brazil and the USA then.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethanol_fuel_in_Brazil

Brazil is the world's second largest producer of ethanol fuel, and until 2010, the world's largest exporter. Together, Brazil and the United States lead the industrial production of ethanol fuel, accounting together for 87.8 percent of the world's production in 2010,^[1][2] and 87.1 percent in 2011.^[3] In 2011 Brazil produced 21.1 billion liters (5.57 billion U.S. liquid gallons), representing 24.9 percent of the world's total ethanol used as fuel.^[3]

Brazil is considered to have the world's first sustainable biofuels economy and the biofuel industry leader,^[4][5][6][7] a policy model for other countries; and its sugarcane ethanol "the most successful alternative fuel to date."^[8] However, some authors consider that the successful Brazilian ethanol model is sustainable only in Brazil due to its advanced agri-industrial technology and its enormous amount of arable land available;^[8] while according to other authors it is a solution only for some countries in the tropical zone of Latin America, the Caribbean, and Africa.^[9][10][11]

The production of ethanol is the main reason for all the corn growing in the North, and that is the cause of much of the smoke pollution there as well. Ethanol for fuel is a bad idea all around. But don't tell that to the central planners and their wealthy patrons who own the corn fields and ethanol plants.

Growing corn doesn't cause pollution. Burning it instead of ploughing it under does.

Ethanol is hygroscopic. My local bike shop loves the use of it as it has increased their business (cleaning carbies) markedly. Most new bikes have a sticker advising against using E85 - that may have changed since my last purchase.

Besides all that, discouraging ethanol use because oil prices now are low is silly. Maybe subsidizing E85 is not a good idea, but these low petrol prices will not last. For a country like Thailand, which mostly imports its oil, has massive air pollution from vehicles, has loads of arable land for sugarcane production, E85 is a very good fuel.

In the future, E98 might be a very viable fuel here. Modern fuel systems are good at using this. Of course, methods of production must be refined further. Burning off stubble is stupid and unsustainable.