Company ceases production of bio-diesel
Company ceases production of bio-diesel
Kolao-Farm & Bio-Energy Co., Ltd need incentives to purchase Jatropha crops for bio-diesel production.
They have frozen their plan to process Jatropha in Laos due to a lack of incentives from the government, according to the company.
They signed an agreement with the Ministry of Energy and Mines to produce bio-diesel from Jatropha oil from 2011-2014, company director Mr Viengmaha Manisy told Vientiane Times yesterday.
The company had encouraged farmers in Bokeo, Xayaboury, Vientiane, Luang Prabang, Oudomxay and Luang Namtha provinces to grow the crop and began production of bio-diesel (B5) for sale in 2012-2013, he said.
But in 2013-2014, the company was not given a diesel import quota from the government, so they have had to stop production, said Mr Viengmaha.
He believed that now it would be difficult to resume production because the company had to cancel Jatropha crop purchases from farmers and branch offices in every province.
The farmers have therefore had to switch to other crops to get some income, Mr Viengmaha explained.
From 2011 to 2013, the company invested around US$3 million to start the farmers growing the crops they needed to process and mix with imported diesel to produce the bio-diesel they had committed to.
During this period the company was able to produce more than two million litres of bio-diesel (B5) for general sale.
The company is now just importing and maintaining agricultural machinery such as tractors, dryers and rice mills and they are looking at ideas for the production of bio-mass energy in the future.
The government, through the Ministry of Energy and Mines, is drafting a Biofuels Management Decree for bio-fuel promotion in Laos as the country already has a renewable energy development strategy.
We now have only two companies in Laos, Lao Agro Tech Co Ltd and Luang Prabang Teak Tree Import and Export, who are producing bio-diesel from palm oil and vernicia.
They have already produced batches of bio-diesel which they have tested on vehicles and tractors to check the quality of both the B5 and B10 varieties obtained from these crops.
Bio-diesel sells for three percent less than ordinary diesel with the hope that it will be five to 10 percent cheaper in the near future.
The government aims to increase the share of renewable energies to 30 percent of the total energy consumption in 2025.
The government has outlined a tentative plan to reach 10 percent of the total transport energy consumption from bio-fuels to reduce the importation of fossil fuels.
But in order to meet such development goals, companies need better incentives from the government to grow crops for bio-diesel production.
vientiane times
