Myanmar to create biofuel plantations on 3.25 million hectares

Earlier we reported on the Jatropha curcas planting campaign in Myanmar (Burma), a country ruled by a military junta that has a very bad human rights record. The South-East Asian country has a wealth of natural resources, including a large agricultural, forestry and mining potential, but it is exploited almost exclusively by a small elite of people connected to the military leaders. According to human rights watchers, forced labor remains a commonly used practise in Burma, where people from ethnic groups who resist the authority of the central government are forced to build roads, harvest crops and work in mines.

The vaguely communist military junta also often organises initiatives that summon all citizens to carry out 'national duties'. Planting jatropha (also known as physic nut) has become such a 'duty' to be carried out by 'all the people and locals' (see picture, click the banner to read the full article, published in a local state-owned newspaper; those who have ever visited the country know that in the cities there, huge billboards with similar slogans dot the streets).

The country now announces a sharp increase of biofuel output next year from jatropha plantations to substitute diesel. According to the Myanmar Ministry of Agriculture and Irrigation, jatropha will be established on 3.25 million hectares/8 million acres of land to realize the projected increase of 20 million tons of biodiesel a year, the ministry-run enterprise dealing with industrial crops told People's Daily.

The intensive campaign has so far resulted in jatropha plantings on 650,000 hectares/1.6 million acres, mainly in three dry zones around the divisions of Mandalay, Sagaing and Magway.

Official statistics show that Myanmar produced about 405 million liters/90 million gallons of petrodiesel a year while importing more than 900 million liters/200 million gallons annually to meet its domestic demand. Some 22% of those imports will now be replaced by locally produced biodiesel, if the target is reached.

According to the enterprise, Myanmar has about 6.41 million hectares/15.85 million acres of land suitable for growing jatropha plants. Myanmar has eyed physic nut oil as fuel since late 2005, advocating the use of it as fuel in the country and urging the country's people to grow such nut plantations extensively.

The authorities also stressed the need for the country to use such biodiesel to avoid spending millions of foreign exchange on fuel, pointing out that the use of biodiesel as an alternative fuel for petrol, kerosene and diesel would also enable rural people to avoid searching fuelwood and help protect forests from depletion and conserve trees:
bioenergy :: biofuels :: energy :: sustainability :: jatropha :: biodiesel :: energy security :: plantation :: Myanmar :: Burma ::

There are two physic nut species in Myanmar - castor and jatropha. Crude oil derived from milled Jatropha can be directly used as fuel only after filtering it with cloth. Experimental use of the Jatropha crude oil in running machines and cars has shown promising results, experts in Myanmar say.

Meanwhile, since October 2005, Myanmar has raised its official fuel prices under limited supply quota to a record high by nearly nine times to 1,500 kyats (1.22 U.S. dollars) from the previous 180 kyats (14 U.S. cents) per gallon for petrol and 160 kyats (13 cents) per gallon for diesel.

These prices are still far below regional and world averages, with the government continuing to subsidize fuels heavily. In addition to the official fuel prices, there exists a black market with prices of 3,800 Kyats (about 3 dollars) per gallon for petrol and 4,800 Kyats (about 3.84 dollars) for diesel.

In a bid to curb costly oil imports, in August 2004 Myanmar also introduced a plan to modify all vehicles in the country so they can run on compressed natural gas (CNG). Burma has major natural gas reserves, that are gradually coming online. So far, a total of over 10,000 petrol- or diesel-run motor vehicles have been converted in the former capital of Yangon.

However, natural gas projects are struggling because of a boycott by international companies, who refuse to do business in Myanmar as long as the country doesn't alter its human rights record and doesn't hold democratic elections. In 1990, Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi won the country's first democratic elections since independence, but a military coup ended the transition and put the popular leader under house arrest. Despite pressure from the international community, the situation in Myanmar remains unchanged and Aung San Suu Kyi remains imprisoned.

More information:
People's Daily: Roundup: Myanmar plans sharp increase of biofuel output in 2008 - May 5, 2007.