VN: Ethanol offers clean energy source

Every year, Viet Nam has to import an average of 13 million tonnes of petrol, 3 million of which are used for social and economic development. We need 300,000 tonnes of ethanol to meet the demand of a 10 per cent ethanol mix into the number above. According to international scientists’ statistics, with the existing sources of petroleum and the human race’s current usage, we will face a shortage of this resource in the next 50 years.

The investment into ethanol production is a breakthrough in setting up a new energy source in Viet Nam.
With the country’s economic growth rate at more than 8 per cent a year, the Viet Nam Oil and Gas Group (PetroVietnam) cannot meet the domestic demand for petrol. Knowing this, PetroVietnam decided to invest in increasing the reserve, as well as start research into producing a biological fuel. At the moment, the Government has encouraged enterprises to invest in this sector, and the Ministry of Industry and Trade was assigned to compile regulations and policies for investors.

After thorough research on Viet Nam’s market, PetroVietnam has assigned us, Petrosetco, to a joint venture with Itochu to build a factory with an ethanol capacity of 100 million litres a year, 99.8 per cent of which will come from sliced cassava. Such capacity meets only one third of the current demand; however, in the near future we will build an additional three factories. These factories will utilise materials from cassava, sugarcane, corn, and especially rice, which will become the main resource in future ethanol production.

The first factory is expected to open in the third quarter of 2009.

VietNam News