Status of Biofuel in GMS

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Paritud Bhandhubanyong

Specialist, Alliance Development Office (ADO) Advisor to President,

National Science and Technology Development Agency (NSTDA)THAILAND

paritud@nstda.or.th

Dr.Nuwong Chollacoop, Dr.Sittha Sukkasi, Dr.Samai Jai-In, Khemadhat Sukondhasingha

National Metal and Materials Technology Center (MTEC),National Science and Technology Development Agency (NSTDA)

THAILANDFifth Biomass-Asia Workshop

December 4-6, 2008 Baiyun International Convention Center, Guangzhou

Outline• About the GMS• Country Reviews

– Cambodia– China (Yunnan and Guangxi)– Lao PDR– Vietnam– Thailand

• Impediments and Challenges• General Issues

Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS)Composition:• Cambodia• Lao People's Democratic Republic• Myanmar• Thailand• Vietnam• Yunnan Province

(People's Republic of China)• Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region

(People's Republic of China)

Population: Over 300 million people

North-South-East-West corridor has facilitated transportation but also caused emission to biodiversity area

Biofuel used in transportation may help lessen air pollution while preserving biodiversity

UN Cartographic Section http://www.unhcr.org/refworld/docid/460a2c442.html

Policy context

• Renewable energy as a means to reduce poverty

• Focus: wind, micro-hydro, biogas and biomass for rural electrification

• Plan to develop biofuels for transportation is being drafted

Potentials

• Enormous amount of unutilized land could be used for biofuel crops without impacting on food production

CIA, The World Factbook

Cambodia

Current Development

• Jatropha cultivation has become rapidly popular and is the major focus

– Most still in early stages

– Driven by private sector (from Korea, China, Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore)

– Large investors establish plantations on leasedland or arrange contract farming with farmers

– Annual production ≈ 68,000 tons seeds

• Other feedstocks (to a smaller extent): – Oil palm

– Sugar cane

– Cassava

– Recycled vegetable oil

CIA, The World Factbook

Cambodia

Cambodia

Examples of Initiatives

• Jatropha plantation– Biodiesel Cambodia / Pan-Asia Biofuels Co. Ltd.

(20,000 ha planned)

– MIME / Angkor Biofuels Co Ltd (1 million ha planned)

– Canadia Bank (transeterification facility for 3,000 ha)

• Bioethanol plant (cassava)– MH Bio-Energy Group of South Korean (planned

capacity of 130-300 tons/day)

• Oil palm plantation– Mong Reththy Group / Charoen (7,500 ha)

• Biodiesel refinery using waste vegetable oil– Maharishi Vedic University (200 L/day)

China (Yunnan and Guangxi)

Policy context

• China’s targets: Biofuel to meet 15% of transport energy needs by 2020

• Use of grain crops to produce ethanol is banned, and biofuel production is limited to non-grain energy crops

• Southwest China (Guizhou, Sichuan, and Yunnan) designated as official areas for Jatrophaproduction

• Five provinces (including Guangxi) identified as most suitable for non-grain ethanol projects, based on yam, cassava, and sweet potatoes

Current Development

• Yunnan designated as the national Jatropha demonstration province

– Planned Jatropha plantation area: 1.03 million ha

– Estimated Jatropha seed yields: 1.7-5.9 t/ha, with 30-41% seed oil content

• Yunnan provincial government plans 14 biodiesel refining plants (3.2-million tons/year total output)

• Guangxi is the first province to use cassava instead of grain to produce ethanol

– Guangxi’s cassava production: 7.8 million tons/year (more than 60% of China’s total)

Xu JiHong, Yunnan University

Jatropha plantation on deserted mountain

China (Yunnan and Guangxi)

China (Yunnan and Guangxi)Examples of Initiatives

• Jatropha plantation and refinery (Yunnan)– Hai Bei Science and Technology Co. (planned capacity of

80,000-100,000 tons/year

– Yunnan Shenyu New Energy Co., Ltd. (planted ~20,000 ha; planning 32,000 ha more; oil extraction facility with planned capacity of 100,000 tons/year)

– Changye Biotech (renting 18,000 ha from local farmers)

– Yunnan Golden Oil Palm Tech Development (renting 6,500 ha from farmers)

• Fuel ethanol production from cassava (Guangxi)– Guangxi Zhongliang Bio-energy Co., Ltd. (planned

capacity of 200,000 tons/year)

– As of April 15, 2008, supplying of ethanol to vehicles had to stop due to high cost of feedstock

Policy context

• Energy policy focuses on: Low cost indigenous fuel, hydropower, pricing policies, and institutional capacity

• Development plan encourages investment in biodiesel and bioethanol production

• Policy on fuel saving and promotion of biofuelproduction

• Target: biofuels to account for 5% of total fossil fuel consumption by 2015

CIA, The World Factbook

Lao PDR

Current Development

• Both government and private sector focus on Jatropha, which has long been used as a “living fence”

– Yields: seed yield of ~ 3 tons/ha and oil yield of 28-42%

• Jatropha is promoted for both village and commercial levels

• Also “stone Jatropha” or Aleuritesmontana

– 400 plants/ha and yield of 45kg of oil per plant

Lao PDR

Examples of Initiatives

• Jatropha plantation and biodiesel production

– NSTDA-NAST BDF reactor

– Kolao Group, a Korean-Lao joint venture (planning to achieve 144,000 ha of plantation and 400,000 tons of biodiesel production)

– Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry (planning for 1,000 ha of plantation in Saythany and Vientiane)

– NAST and Electricté de Lao (planting alongside the main highway and beneath power transmission lines)

– LIRE (GIS data to determine suitable planting sites)

• Ethanol production

– Hainan Yedao of China (using feedstock from 4,500 ha of cassava plantation in Lao)

– Mitr Phol Group (48,000 acre of sugarcane plantation and a sugar mill)

Lao PDR

Vietnam

Policy context

• Biofuel Master Plan issued in November 2007, outlining development of biofuel projects

– By 2010, 100,000 tons of E5 and 50,000 tons of B5 (to meet 0.4% of domestic fuel demand)

– By 2015, 5 million tons of E5 and B5 combined(to meet 1% of domestic fuel demand)

– By 2025, 1.8 million tons of bioethanol and biodiesel (to satisfy 5% of domestic fuel demand)

• Government promotes international cooperation and technology transfer. Goal: 20 international biofuelscooperation projects

CIA, The World Factbook

Current Development

• Efforts focusing on feedstock selection and development phase

• Catfish fat (200,000 tons/year as a by-product)

– Successful lab-scale biodiesel production

– Still problems with pour point and oxidation stability

• Jatropha favoured as the most viable feedstock crop.

• Moringa oleifera (Drumstick Tree) also valued for non-toxicity and multiple uses

Vietnam

Examples of Initiatives

• Biodiesel production from catfish fat

– Minh Tu / Mekong Petrochemistry

– Agifish / Saigon Petro (producing 1.6 tons/day )

• Biodiesel production from used vegetable oil

– Saigon Petro (producing 2 tons/day )

• Bioethanol production

– Biotekhnologia Corp / PetroVietnam / Metropol (planned capacity: 100,000 tons/year; feedstock: cassava, byproducts from rice processing, and sugar cane as feedstock

Vietnam

Thailand

Policy context

• Biofuel demonstration programme started over 30 years ago by Royal Projects

• Plan to increase share of renewable energy to 8% by 2011 (2% from biofuels)

– 2.4 million litres/day of bioethanol and 3.0 million litres/day of biodiesel

– biofuels share to increase to 14% by 2022

• B2 is mandated. B5 is promoted.

• E10, E20 is widely available. E85 is available at selected stations.

CIA, The World Factbook

Current Development

• Main feedstock for biodiesel production: palm oil

– Other options, e.g. Jatropha, being researched

• 9 operational biodiesel plants (capacity: 2.18 million L/day)

– Many more being constructed. Expected capacity by 2012: 4.49 million L/day

• Current main feedstock for bioethanol production: molasses

• 9 commercial ethanol plants (capacity: 1.575 million L/day)

– 11 additional plants (from both molasses and cassava equally) being constructed (capacity: 2.4 million L/day)

Thailand

Current Development

• Two standards for biodiesel: industrial and community grades

– NSTDA also involved in drafting biodiesel standardization for APEC and EAS

• Biofuel technology R&D roadmaps developed

Thailand

EAS-ERIA BDF standard WG

2550BE2007CE

2560BE2017CE

2555BE2012CE

Bioethanol

E10 Impact to Engine, Parts, EmissionsCrop Dev. For inc. sugar/starch content

Agricultural Zoning

Optimized Anhydrous Ethanol Prod. Tech.

Ethanol from cane juice, molasses, cassava

Optimized Hydrated Ethanol Prod. Tech.

Clean Production of Ethanol

Cellulosic Alcohol Technology

Bioenergy & Biomaterial Synergy

Automotive Industry Dev : E85 - FFV

E85-E100 for Agricultural & Industrial Machines

E20/E85 Impact to Engine, parts, Emissions

Enzyme & Yeast Tech. Development

Optimized Production Tech Crop for sugar/ biomaterials

Crop Improvement for Biofuel Process

Sugar / Starch Platform Biorefinery

2nd Generation Biofuels

E20/FlexFuel for motorcycles

Utilization

FeedstockProduction

Source: NSTDA Alternative Energy Roadmap (2007)

Biodiesel

Oil Crops Variety Improvement/ Breeding

Pre/Post Harvest / Zoning /Agronomy

High-value extraction from CPO

Vegetable Oil Extraction Process Development

BDF QA/QC

Optimized Prod. Process

BDF Production / Zero-waste

Glycerin Utilization Tech.Heterogeneoes Catalyst

Bioplastic Prod. Tech.

Impact of B100 with Farm Truck

B100 Agriculture Engine Tech.

Co-product Dev.

JCL Toxicity Issues

Process for Lignin Conversion

Agri. Machines Dev.

BDF/ Syn Diesel Tech.

FAEE : Fatty Acid Ethyl Ester

2560BE2017CE

2555BE2012CE

2550BE2007CE

Bioenergy & Biomaterial Synergy

B10, B20 Impact to Engine, parts, Emissions

B5 Impact to Engine, parts, Emissions

B2/B100 Impact to Engine, parts, Emissions

BTL/BDF convergence

Oil Crops for Rice Paddy

High yield Palm oil

Mol. Biology Convergence

Utilization

FeedstockProduction

Source: NSTDA Alternative Energy Roadmap (2007)

Impediments and challenges• Lack of clear national policies for biofuels

• Exploitation of large-scale government land concession schemes

• Potential secondary impacts - a challenge for policymakers

• Requirement for major investment in infrastructure and refining capacity in order to realize the utility of biofuels for transportation

• Breeding / agronomy: development of high-yielding, locally adapted Jatropha cultivars

General issues• Governance is a serious issue in relation to exploitation of

government concessions for large-scale forest clearing under the guise of biofuels plantations

• Contribution to mitigation of GHG emissions, and benefits of import substitution may be overestimated in the absence of domestic refining capacity

• Large-scale production for the transportation sector vs. small-scale biofuels enterprises for community needs?

• Livelihoods and equity

• Environmental sustainability

Disclaimer

While part of the information presented here was found through a study sponsored by the Asian Development Bank, this presentation does not in any ways represent the views or

endorsement of the ADB.

Thank you very much for your attention