Ethanol supply
and the jump from E20 to E85 vehicles
By Jon Fernquest
Oil prices may well hit $150 per barrel next
month and $200 next year, so plans are being made for increased use of
ethanol as an oil substitute.
The first plant in Thailand to produce ethanol from cellulose will start production next month. The plant has a license to produce 400,000 litres of ethanol per year.
Using technology provided by the Japan's New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organisation, the plant will produce ethanol from two types of material, molasses and bagasse.
The molasses operations will be much larger than the bagasse operations. Molasses-based production will produce 110,000 litres per day from 400 tonnes of raw materials. Bagasse-based production will produce only 10,000 from 130 tonnes.
Bagasse is the "fibrous material remaining after the extraction of juice from sugarcane; often burned by sugar mills as a source of energy." (Source)
Unfortunately, the policy to use this ethanol in automobiles seems to be in a state of confusion. As energy expert Boonsong Kositchotethana explained in his weekly Bangkok Post column:
The E85 was adopted two years ahead of the target date at the whim of ministers of energy and industry, who are rushing to claim public recognition for political gain, while all the crucial elements to make it successful - such as the availability of cars compatible with this fuel and filling stations - have yet to be developed.Stakeholders like the automotive industry, oil companies and ethanol producers were not consulted beforehand as these politicians and authorities in charge felt they were on top of the subject.
The sudden push for E85 came just months after the promotion of E20, a mixture of 20% ethanol and 80% petrol, was launched. It is still in the early stages of implementation.
While several local car assemblers have made 2008 models E20 compatible, only some 50 E20 filling stations are available in this country, because the oil industry needs time to develop a supply base and distribution infrastructure...
Until recently, the automotive industry was geared towards producing eco-cars, those small cars which consume fewer than five litres of fuel per 100 kilometres and meet Euro 4 standards for carbon emissions of less than 120 grammes per kilometre. The sudden push for E85 is sending a confusing message to local auto assemblers and will only encourage the import of completely built-up vehicles by a few European car makers which currently have E85-compatible production capacity.
Technically speaking, sponsors of eco-car projects may not be able to achieve the required mileage if they tried to make their cars E85 compatible, because of the less energy intensity of the alternative fuel. Encouraging the import of such cars goes against the long-standing state policy of supporting the local automotive industry. Furthermore, the number of imported E85-compatible cars would be few because of their high cost and this would eventually cause the E85 programme to fail. Other easy ways out being resorted to by the Energy Minister - continuing to distort prices through subsidies for liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), compressed natural gas (CNG) and, recently, diesel fuel - do not solve the core problems but are only meant to gain political credit. Politicians should stop giving the public the false view that the gasohol programme and CNG promotion are a panacea for high oil prices, and that they would become cheaply available to them. The public needs to come to terms with high oil prices and ought to be made fully aware that energy, conventional and alternative, must be consumed in a sustainable manner.
(Source: Bangkok Post, op-ed section, 18-06-08, BOONSONG KOSITCHOTETHANA, temp-link)
(Source: Bangkok Post, business, 20-06-08, YUTHANA PRAIWAN, temp-link)
Vocabulary:
cellulose - the main material that
plants are made of, used in products that use fibrous materials such as
paper, textiles, and explosives (See Wikipedia) สารประกอบคาร์โบไฮเดรตประเภทโพลีแซ็กคาไรด์ชนิดที่ซับซ้อน
เป็นองค์ประกอบสำคัญของเนื้อไม้ ฝ้าย ใช้ประโยชน์ในอุตสาหกรรมพลาสติก
กระดาษ ไหมเทียม ดินระเบิด ฟิล์มภาพยนตร์ หรือฟิล์มถ่ายรูปชนิดไม่ไวไฟ
molasses - a thick syrup by-product
from the processing of the sugarcane or sugar beet into sugar (See Wikipedia) กากน้ำตาล
bagasse - fibrous material remaining
after the extraction of juice from sugarcane; often burned by sugar
mills as a source of energy (See Google
Definitions)
ชานอ้อย
raw materials - materials before being
processed and used in manufacturing (See glossary) วัตถุดิบ
in a state of confusion - everything is in disorder,
because a lot of things are happening at the same time, so no one knows
what is really happening สภาวะที่ทุกอย่างยังไม่ชัดเจน
ยังเป็นที่สับสนอยู่
at the whim of - decision was made by people
who did not consider the issues carefully ด้วยความเพ้อฝันของ
compatible with - works with, goes together
with สามารถใช้งานได้กับ ...
filling stations - gas stations (places where
you fill up your car with gasoline)
สถานีน้ำมัน ปั๊มน้ำมัน
stakeholders - anyone affected by a
decision ผู้ที่ได้รับผลกระทบจากการตัดสินใจ
consulted - asked for their opinion and
feedback about an issue, or a decision to be made หารือ ปรึกษา
authorities in charge - the people with power
controlling policy and events เจ้าหน้าที่ผู้มีอำนาจ
on top of the subject - know all about a subject,
have mastered the subject มีความรู้และเข้าใจประเด็นและเรื่องราวนั้นๆ
อย่างดี
implementation - execution of a plan, making
sure that something that is planned actually gets done (See glossary) นำ (แผนการ) มาบังคับใช้
early stages of
implementation
- only in the early series of activities of a plan
ในระยะต้นของแผนที่วางไว้
geared towards Y - designed or organised to
achieve purpose Y เดินหน้า (ทำสิ่งนั้นๆ) ให้ลุล่วงไป
eco-cars - "small cars which consume
fewer than five litres of fuel per 100 kilometres and meet Euro 4
standards for carbon emissions of less than 120 grammes per kilometre"
รถชนิดใหม่ที่ประหยัดน้ำมันและปล่อยก๊าซเสียออกมาน้อยกว่ารถปกติ
Euro 4 standards for
carbon emissions
- the current set of emission standards in Europe (See Wikipedia on European
emission standards
and emission
standards)
มาตราฐานควบคุมการปล่อยของเสียจากเครื่องยนต์ตามมาตราฐานของกลุ่มประเทศในยุโรป
sending a confusing
message -
people can't understand from your current actions, what you are
planning for the future ก่อให้เกิดความสับสนต่อสิ่งที่จะเกิดขึ้นในอนาคต
completely built-up
vehicles -
cars and trucks that are complete and ready to drive
ยานพาหนะที่ประกอบเสร็จพร้อมใช้งาน (ยานพาหนะ
หรือรถยนต์มีประเภทที่ประกอบเสร็จจากโรงงาน
กับประเภทที่นำชิ้นส่วนมาประกอบในประเทศที่ขายรถนั้นๆ เอง)
mileage - the number of miles that a
car gets per litre of gasoline ระยะทางที่รถวิ่ง
easy ways out - solutions that are easy in
the short-run (but not good decisions for the long-run)
ทางแก้ปัญหาที่ง่ายที่สุด
resorted to X - did X because there was no
other way it could be done (or so it seemed)
ใช้มาตราการ (อีกอันหนึ่งเพราะไม่มีทางเลือกอื่น)
distort prices - make prices different from
prices determined by supply and demand in the market
บิดเบือนราคา
core problems - the most important problems
to solve ปัญหาที่สำคัญที่สุด
gain political credit - public opinion will approve
of him (whether what he does actually succeeds or not)
เพื่อเรียกคะแนนจากประชาชน
a panacea - a medicine that can sure
all problems, a wonder medicine ยาวิเศษ
a panacea for high oil
prices - a
way of solving all the problems of high oil prices
สูตรสำเร็จในการแก้ปัญหาราคาน้ำมันแพง