Japan helps build Vietnam's first ethanol plant - cassava feedstock
The Vietnamese Petroleum Services and Tourism Company (Petrosetco) and Japan's Itochu Co-operation will set up a joint venture to build a bio-ethanol plant, the first of its kind in Vietnam. The two partners signed a Memorandum of Understanding on the issue in Ho Chi Minh City on March 9.
The €76.2/US$100 million project will turn out 100 million litres (26.4 million gallons) of ethanol each year, from cassava chips, which will be sold in Vietnam to mix in petrol used in industrial production and transport activities.
The mixing of ethanol in petrol will help the country reduce its petrol imports as well as cut environmental pollution, said Tran Cong Tao, Petrosetco's chief of executive.
It is estimated that if a 10 percent ethanol ratio is introduced in the country's largest city, Ho Chi Minh City, some 100 to 150 million liters will be needed per year. This amount can be covered by the single plant.
The Itochu group has 30 years of experience handling ethanol projects and is willing share its knowledge with the Vietnamese partner to contribute to the first bio-ethanol project in Vietnam, according to Itochu's deputy executive director Toshio Shigemi.
Deputy Minister of Industry Do Huu Hao and Vice Chairman of the municipal People's Committee Nguyen Trung Tin spoke highly of the co-operation between Petrosetco and Itochu to create a new kind of energy for Vietnam. The two officials also pledged to assist the project and expressed hope that the plant will soon be operational:
biomass :: bioenergy :: biofuels :: energy :: sustainability :: ethanol :: cassava :: Japan :: Vietnam ::
Construction of the plant, which will be located in the Hiep Phuoc industrial zone, is expected to be completed in the first quarter of 2009.
Cassava is being used accross South East Asia as a suitable feedstock for ethanol production. The starch-rich root crop is currently utilized in China and Thailand on an industrial scale.
Thailand recently launched a program involving smallholders who will be growing cassava for ethanol, in a push to alleviate poverty by diversifying their crop portfolio and open new markets (earlier post).
Likewise, in China, cassava is seen as an important crop to use for the production of biofuels instead of the grain crops many producers currently rely on. The fact that the plant requires low water and fertilizer inputs, and because it thrives on relatively poor soils, it is considered to be suitable for programs involving poor smallholders (earlier post).
The €76.2/US$100 million project will turn out 100 million litres (26.4 million gallons) of ethanol each year, from cassava chips, which will be sold in Vietnam to mix in petrol used in industrial production and transport activities.
The mixing of ethanol in petrol will help the country reduce its petrol imports as well as cut environmental pollution, said Tran Cong Tao, Petrosetco's chief of executive.
It is estimated that if a 10 percent ethanol ratio is introduced in the country's largest city, Ho Chi Minh City, some 100 to 150 million liters will be needed per year. This amount can be covered by the single plant.
The Itochu group has 30 years of experience handling ethanol projects and is willing share its knowledge with the Vietnamese partner to contribute to the first bio-ethanol project in Vietnam, according to Itochu's deputy executive director Toshio Shigemi.
Deputy Minister of Industry Do Huu Hao and Vice Chairman of the municipal People's Committee Nguyen Trung Tin spoke highly of the co-operation between Petrosetco and Itochu to create a new kind of energy for Vietnam. The two officials also pledged to assist the project and expressed hope that the plant will soon be operational:
biomass :: bioenergy :: biofuels :: energy :: sustainability :: ethanol :: cassava :: Japan :: Vietnam ::
Construction of the plant, which will be located in the Hiep Phuoc industrial zone, is expected to be completed in the first quarter of 2009.
Cassava is being used accross South East Asia as a suitable feedstock for ethanol production. The starch-rich root crop is currently utilized in China and Thailand on an industrial scale.
Thailand recently launched a program involving smallholders who will be growing cassava for ethanol, in a push to alleviate poverty by diversifying their crop portfolio and open new markets (earlier post).
Likewise, in China, cassava is seen as an important crop to use for the production of biofuels instead of the grain crops many producers currently rely on. The fact that the plant requires low water and fertilizer inputs, and because it thrives on relatively poor soils, it is considered to be suitable for programs involving poor smallholders (earlier post).
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