Ethanol fuel

Ethanol fuel is ethanol (ethyl alcohol), the same type of alcohol found in alcoholic beverages. It can be used as a fuel, mainly as a bio fuel alternative to gasoline, and is widely used in cars in Brazil. Because it is easy to manufacture and process and can be made from very common crops such as sugar cane and corn, it is an increasingly common alternative to gasoline in some parts of the world. This is a renewable resource (can be produced, unlike petroleum which cannot be produced and in time will be gone).

Anhydrous ethanol (ethanol with less than 1% water) can be blended with gasoline in varying quantities up to pure ethanol (E100), and most spark-ignited gasoline style engines will operate well with mixtures of 10% ethanol (E10). Most cars on the road today in the U.S. can run on blends of up to 10% ethanol, and the use of 10% ethanol gasoline is mandated in some cities where harmful levels of auto emissions are possible.

Ethanol can be mass-produced by fermentation of sugar or by hydration of ethylene (ethene CH₂=CH₂) from petroleum and other sources. Current interest in ethanol mainly lies in bio-ethanol, produced from the starch or sugar in a wide variety of crops, but there has been considerable debate about how useful bio-ethanol will be in replacing fossil fuels in vehicles. Concerns relate to the large amount of arable land required for crops, as well as the energy and pollution balance of the whole cycle of ethanol production. Recent developments with cellulosic ethanol production and commercialization may allay some of these concerns.

According to the International Energy Agency, cellulosic ethanol could allow ethanol fuels to play a much bigger role in the future than previously thought. Cellulosic ethanol offers promise as resistant cellulose fibers, a major and universal component in plant cells walls, can be used to generate ethanol. Dedicated energy crops such as switchgrass are also promising cellulose sources that can be produced in many regions of the United States.

Chemistry

Glucose (a simple sugar) is created in the plant by photosynthesis.

6CO₂ + 6H₂O + light → C₆H₁₂O₆ + 6O₂

During ethanol fermentation, glucose is decomposed into ethanol and carbon dioxide.

C₆H₁₂O₆ → 2C₂H₆O + 2CO₂ + heat

During combustion ethanol reacts with oxygen to produce carbon dioxide, water, and heat:

C₂H₆O + 3O₂ → 2CO₂ + 3H₂O + heat

After doubling the ethanol combustion reaction because two molecules of ethanol are produced for each glucose molecule, there are equal numbers of each type of molecule on each side of the equation, and the net reaction for the overall production and consumption of ethanol is just:

light → heat

The heat of the combustion of ethanol is used to drive the piston in the engine by expanding heated gases. It can be said that sunlight is used to run the engine.

Glucose itself is not the only substance in the plant that is fermented. The simple sugar fructose also undergoes fermentation. Three other compounds in the plant can be fermented after breaking them up by hydrolysis into the glucose or fructose molecules that compose them. Starch and cellulose are molecules that are strings of glucose molecules, and sucrose (ordinary table sugar) is a molecule of glucose bonded to a molecule of fructose. The energy to create fructose in the plant ultimately comes from the metabolism of glucose created by photosynthesis, and so sunlight also provides the energy generated by the fermentation of these other molecules.

Ethanol may also be produced industrially from ethene (ethylene). Addition of water to the double bond converts ethene to ethanol:.

CH₂=CH₂ + H₂O → CH₃CH₂OH

This is done in the presence of an acid which catalyzes the reaction, but is not consumed.

When ethanol is burned in the atmosphere rather than in pure oxygen, other chemical reactions occur with different components of the atmosphere such as N₂. This leads to the production of nitrous oxides NO_x , a major air pollutant.

Sources

Ethanol is a "renewable" because it is primarily the result of conversion of the sun's energy into usable energy. Creation of ethanol starts with photosynthesis causing the feedstocks such as switchgrass, sugar cane, or corn to grow. These feedstocks are processed into ethanol.

About 5% of the ethanol produced in the world in 2003 was actually a petroleum product. It is made by the catalytic hydration of ethylene with sulfuric acid as the catalyst. It can also be obtained via ethylene or acetylene, from calcium carbide, coal, oil gas, and other sources. Two million tons of petroleum-derived ethanol are produced annually. The principal suppliers are plants in the United States, Europe, and South Africa. Petroleum derived ethanol (synthetic ethanol) is chemically identical to bio-ethanol and can be differentiated only by radiocarbon dating.

Bio-ethanol is obtained from the conversion of carbon based feedstock. Agricultural feedstocks are considered renewable because they get energy from the sun using photosynthesis, provided that all minerals required for growth (such as nitrogen and phosphorus) are returned to the land. Ethanol can be produced from a variety of feedstocks such as sugar cane, bagasse, miscanthus, sugar beet, sorghum, grain sorghum, switchgrass, barley, hemp, kenaf, potatoes, sweet potatoes, cassava, sunflower, fruit, molasses, corn, stover, grain, wheat, straw, cotton, other biomass, as well as many types of cellulose waste and harvestings, whichever has the best well-to-wheel assessment.

Current, first generation processes for the production of ethanol from corn use only a small part of the corn plant: the corn kernels are taken from the corn plant and only the starch, which represents about 50% of the dry kernel mass, is transformed into ethanol. Two types of second generation processes are under development. The first type uses enzymes and yeast to convert the plant cellulose into ethanol while the second type uses pyrolysis to convert the whole plant to either a liquid bio-oil or a syngas. Second generation processes can also be used with plants such as grasses, wood or agricultural waste material such as straw.

Technology

Ethanol-based engines

Ethanol is most commonly used to power automobiles, though it may be used to power other vehicles, such as farm tractors and airplanes. Ethanol (E100) consumption in an engine is approximately 51% higher than for gasoline since the energy per unit volume of ethanol is 34% lower than for gasoline. However, the higher compression ratios in an ethanol-only engine allow for increased power output and better fuel economy than could be obtained with lower compression ratios. In general, ethanol-only engines are tuned to give slightly better power and torque output to gasoline-powered engines. In flexible fuel vehicles, the lower compression ratio requires tunings that give the same output when using either gasoline or hydrated ethanol. For maximum use of ethanol's benefits, a much higher compression ratio should be used, which would render that engine unsuitable for gasoline use. When ethanol fuel availability allows high-compression ethanol-only vehicles to be practical, the fuel efficiency of such engines should be equal or greater than current gasoline engines. However, since the energy content (by volume) of ethanol fuel is less than gasoline, a larger volume of ethanol fuel (151%) would still be required to produce the same amount of energy. In spite of that, as the ethanol-only vehicle wastes less energy, it yields the same or higher mileage.

A 2004 MIT study and an earlier paper published by the Society of Automotive Engineersidentify a method to exploit the characteristics of fuel ethanol substantially better than mixing it with gasoline. The method presents the possibility of leveraging the use of alcohol to even achieve definite improvement over the cost-effectiveness of hybrid electric. The improvement consists of using dual-fuel direct-injection of pure alcohol (or the azeotrope or E85) and gasoline, in any ratio up to 100% of either, in a turbocharged, high compression-ratio, small-displacement engine having performance similar to an engine having twice the displacement. Each fuel is carried separately, with a much smaller tank for alcohol. The high-compression (which increases efficiency) engine will run on ordinary gasoline under low-power cruise conditions. Alcohol is directly injected into the cylinders (and the gasoline injection simultaneously reduced) only when necessary to suppress ‘knock’ such as when significantly accelerating. Direct cylinder injection raises the already high octane rating of ethanol up to an effective 130. The calculated over-all reduction of gasoline use and CO2 emission is 30%. The consumer cost payback time shows a 4:1 improvement over turbo-diesel and a 5:1 improvement over hybrid. In addition, the problems of water absorption into pre-mixed gasoline (causing phase separation), supply issues of multiple mix ratios and cold-weather starting are avoided.

Ethanol's higher octane rating allows an increase of an engine's compression ratio for increased thermal efficiency. In one study, complex engine controls and increased exhaust gas recirculation allowed a compression ratio of 19.5 with fuels ranging from neat ethanol to E50. Thermal efficiency up to approximately that for a diesel was achieved. This would result in the MPG (miles per gallon) of a dedicated ethanol vehicle to be about the same as one burning gasoline.

Since 1986 there have also been ethanol engines based on the diesel principle operating in Sweden.^{[citation needed]} They are used primarily in city buses, but also in distribution trucks, and waste collectors use this technology. The engines have a modified compression ratio, and the fuel (known as ED95) used is a mix of 95 % hydrous ethanol and 5 % ignition improver.^{[citation needed]} The ignition improver makes it possible for the fuel to ignite in the diesel combustion cycle. It is then also possible to use the energy efficiency of the diesel principle with ethanol.

Engine cold start during the winter

High ethanol blends present a problem to achieve enough vapor pressure for the fuel to evaporate and spark the ignition during cold weather. When vapor pressure is below 45 kPa starting a cold engine becomes difficult. In order to avoid this problem at temperatures below 11 ° Celsius (59 °F), and to reduce ethanol higher emissions during cold weather, both the US and the European markets adopted E85 as the maximum blend to be used in their flexible fuel vehicles, and they are optimized to run at such a blend. At places with harsh cold weather, the ethanol blend in the US has a seasonal reduction to E70 for these very cold regions, though it is still sold as E85. At places where temperatures fall below -12 °C (10 °F) during the winter, it is recommended to install an engine heater system, both for gasoline and E85 vehicles. Sweden has a similar seasonal reduction, but the ethanol content in the blend is reduced to E75 during the winter months.

Brazilian flex fuel vehicles can operate with ethanol mixtures up to E100, which is hydrous ethanol (alcohol with up to 4% water), which causes vapor pressure to drop faster as compared to E85 vehicles, and as a result, Brazilian flex vehicles are built with a small secondary gasoline reservoir located near the engine to avoid starting problems in cold weather. The cold start with pure gasoline is particularly necessary for users of Brazil's southern and central regions, where temperatures normally drop below 15 ° Celsius (59 °F) during the winter. An improved flex motor generation that will be launched in 2009 will eliminate the need for this secondary gas storage tank.

Ethanol fuel mixtures

To avoid engine stall due to "slugs" of water in the fuel lines interrupting fuel flow, the fuel must exist as a single phase. The fraction of water that an ethanol-gasoline fuel can contain without phase separation increases with the percentage of ethanol.. This shows, for example, that E30 can have up to about 2% water. If there is more than about 71% ethanol, the remainder can be any proportion of water or gasoline and phase separation will not occur. However, the fuel mileage declines with increased water content. The increased solubility of water with higher ethanol content permits E30 and hydrated ethanol to be put in the same tank since any combination of them always results in a single phase. Somewhat less water is tolerated at lower temperatures. For E10 it is about 0.5% v/v at 70 F and decreases to about 0.23% v/v at -30 F.

In many countries cars are mandated to run on mixtures of ethanol. Brazil requires cars be suitable for a 25% ethanol blend, and has required various mixtures between 22% and 25% ethanol, since of July 2007 25% is required. The United States allows up to 10% blends, and some states require this (or a smaller amount) in all gasoline sold. Other countries have adopted their own requirements. Beginning with the model year 1999, an increasing number of vehicles in the world are manufactured with engines which can run on any fuel from 0% ethanol up to 100% ethanol without modification. Many cars and light trucks (a class containing minivans, SUVs and pickup trucks) are designed to be flexible-fuel vehicles (also called dual-fuel vehicles). In older model years, their engine systems contained alcohol sensors in the fuel and/or oxygen sensors in the exhaust that provide input to the engine control computer to adjust the fuel injection to achieve stochiometric (no residual fuel or free oxygen in the exhaust) air-to-fuel ratio for any fuel mix. In newer models, the alcohol sensors have been removed, with the computer using only oxygen and airflow sensor feedback to estimate alcohol content. The engine control computer can also adjust (advance) the ignition timing to achieve a higher output without pre-ignition when it predicts that higher alcohol percentages are present in the fuel being burned. This method is backed up by advanced knock sensors - used in most high performance gasoline engines regardless of whether they're designed to use ethanol or not - that detect pre-ignition and detonation.

Environment

Energy balance

All biomass goes through at least some of these steps: it needs to be grown, collected, dried, fermented, and burned. All of these steps require resources and an infrastructure. The total amount of energy input into the process compared to the energy released by burning the resulting ethanol fuel is known as the energy balance (or "Net energy gain"). Figures compiled in a 2007 by National Geographic Magazine point to modest results for corn ethanol produced in the US: one unit of fossil-fuel energy is required to create 1.3 energy units from the resulting ethanol. The energy balance for sugarcane ethanol produced in Brazil is more favorable, 1:8. Energy balance estimates are not easily produced, thus numerous such reports have been generated that are contradictory. For instance, a separate survey reports that production of ethanol from sugarcane, which requires a tropical climate to grow productively, returns from 8 to 9 units of energy for each unit expended, as compared to corn which only returns about 1.34 units of fuel energy for each unit of energy expended.

Carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas, is emitted during fermentation and combustion. However, this is canceled out by the greater uptake of carbon dioxide by the plants as they grow to produce the biomass. When compared to gasoline, depending on the production method, ethanol releases less greenhouse gases.

Air pollution

Compared with conventional unleaded gasoline, ethanol is a particulate-free burning fuel source that combusts with oxygen to form carbon dioxide, water and aldehydes (a contraction of alcohol dehydrogenated). Gasoline produces 2.44 CO2 equivalent kg/l and ethanol 1.94 (this is -21% CO2)^{[citation needed]}. The Clean Air Act requires the addition of oxygenates to reduce carbon monoxide emissions in the United States. The additive MTBE is currently being phased out due to ground water contamination, hence ethanol becomes an attractive alternative additive. Current production methods include air pollution from the manufacturer of macronutrient fertilizers such as ammonia.

A study by atmospheric scientists at Stanford University found that E85 fuel would increase the risk of air pollution deaths relative to gasoline. Ozone levels are significantly increased, thereby increasing photochemical smog and aggravating medical problems such as asthma.

Carbon dioxide

The calculation of exactly how much carbon dioxide is produced in the manufacture of bioethanol is a complex and inexact process, and is highly dependent on the method by which the ethanol is produced and the assumptions made in the calculation. A calculation should include:

• The cost of growing the feedstock
• The cost of transporting the feedstock to the factory
• The cost of processing the feedstock into bioethanol

Such a calculation may or may not consider the following effects:

• The cost of the change in land use of the area where the fuel feedstock is grown.
• The cost of transportation of the bioethanol from the factory to its point of use
• The efficiency of the bioethanol compared with standard gasoline
• The amount of Carbon Dioxide produced at the tail pipe.
• The benefits due to the production of useful bi-products, such as cattle feed or electricity.

The graph on the right shows figures calculated by the UK government for the purposes of the Renewable transport fuel obligation.

The January 2006 Science article from UC Berkeley's ERG, estimated reduction from corn ethanol in GHG to be 13% after reviewing a large number of studies. However, in a correction to that article released shortly after publication, they reduce the estimated value to 7.4%. A National Geographic Magazine overview article (2007) puts the figures at 22% less CO₂ emissions in production and use for corn ethanol compared to gasoline and a 56% reduction for cane ethanol. Carmaker Ford reports a 70% reduction in CO₂ emissions with bioethanol compared to petrol for one of their flexible-fuel vehicles.

An additional complication is that production requires tilling new soil which produces a one-off release of GHG that it can take decades or centuries of production reductions in GHG emissions to equalize. As an example, converting grass lands to corn production for ethanol takes about a century of annual savings to make up for the GHG released from the initial tilling.

Increasing Biofuel Demand and its Impacts on Markets and Poverty - the Output of Two Recent Seminars and the BIOMASS Project

In the previous Palawija News, Robin Bourgeois suggested that we should link promoting Clean Renewable Energy (CRE) to poverty alleviation (Palawija News 23(4) p. 6-11). With that idea in mind, this article describes the output of two seminars recently held in Japan. Both seminars focused on how a rising demand of biofuel would affect the international agricultural commodity market. Then, the outline of the JIRCAS and CAPSA's collaboration project (BIOMASS) will be presented. The project focuses on the effects of an increasing biomass energy market on poverty alleviation and sustainable development.

Seminar one: Agriculture market outlook - special focus on biofuel development
The seminar was organized by the Policy Research Institute of the Japanese Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (PRIMAFF). It was held on 19 June 2007 in Tokyo. Dr. Loek Boonekamp, Head of the Agrifood Trade and Markets Division, Directorate for Trade and Agriculture of OECD presented the paper "The Aglink Cosimo Model " Its Use in Market Outlook and Policy Analyses". Dr. Boonekamp has been responsible for OECDs agriculture market outlook since 1995. The Aglink Cosimo model is a large-scale partial equilibrium model of global agricultural markets. The Aglink Cosimo modelling system is presently one of the most comprehensive partial equilibrium models for global agriculture. The model is one of the tools used in generating baseline projections that underlie the OECD-FAO Agricultural Outlook¹.

The main conclusions of the 2007 Agricultural Outlook were presented during the seminar. They are summarized below.

Expected world commodity prices
Price expectations for major agricultural commodities were calculated as the average of world prices of the coming ten years. This year's price projection (average price 2007-2016) is significantly higher than last year's projection (average price 2006-2015). The difference between the two projections is especially large for cereals (e.g. maize: +28 per cent), dairy (e.g. cheese: +25 per cent) and animal products (e.g. beef: +20 per cent).

Cereal demands for biofuel
It is anticipated that in 2016, around 60 per cent of Brazil's sugar cane production, and more than half of the EU's oilseed production will be used for bioenergy, bio-ethanol and biodiesel respectively. The biofuel industry will become a large consumer of cereals. Cereal demands for the biofuel industry will heavily depend on future feedstock and oil prices, and on the advent of new technologies and government policies. At this moment in time, it is therefore difficult to make precise predictions for future demands of the biofuel industry. This will cause the biofuel industry to act as a major uncertainty of cereal markets.

Increased world trade in agricultural commodities
Compared to the average figures of 2004-2006, the imports of agricultural commodities in 2016 will show a large increase. Above all, beef, vegetable oils and butter will increase with more than 40 per cent. As for the export, most growth will come from developing countries, especially Argentina and Brazil. OECD countries will decrease their share of world export but they will still remain dominant traders in the international market. Very few developing countries will dominate imports, except China with its oilseeds import, which will represent more than 70 per cent of the total world import in 2016.

Projections for world market commodity prices
Projections show a trend of rising commodity prices, as mentioned before. In fact, price increases already have been observed in several oil and starch crops. Some analysts warned that this might be a negative impact of the rising biofuel demand. Before testing this hypothesis, it is useful to refer to two basic facts. Firstly, declining global stocks of agricultural commodities provide a context for more volatile markets. Secondly, extraordinary weather patterns such as El-Nino have lowered global cereal production and exports. An increased ethanol production has surely also raised wheat and coarse grain consumption. However, the drop in supplies has been much larger than the rise in demand, at least during 2006-2007 world cereal markets. Therefore, the biofuel industry cannot be taken to be solely responsible for the higher crop prices.

Long-term market and trade impacts of growing bioenergy demand
Then, what about long-term impacts? We need to remember that currently without government support, ethanol is not an economically viable option in most countries. The economics of biofuel production is highly influenced by the crude oil prices. In 2004, when the oil price was around US$40/barrel, sugar cane ethanol in Brazil was the only economically feasible option. With the oil price level of April 2006, around US$70/barrel, maize ethanol was also economically feasible in the USA. However, US$100/barrel is required for wheat and sugar beat ethanol, and rape oil biodiesel in the EU. It is anticipated that cereal based ethanol production will grow rapidly in the coming ten years and it will require a substantial quantity of maize and wheat. The consequences of this will be: (i) lower wheat and maize exports; (ii) land to be drawn out of oilseed production; and (iii) overall higher crop prices. In conclusion, crop prices are expected to be higher and more unstable on the long term. This situation will provide higher incomes for some farmers, but higher costs for others.

Seminar two: the 9th joint biomass seminar
The seminar was held in Tsukuba, Japan on 13 June 2007 and was organized by the Consultative Assembly of Independent Administration Agency for Biofuel Research and Development. One of the papers named "Enhancement of Bioethanol and its Implication to Cereal Trade in the USA and China" presented during the seminar will be described shortly here. The paper was presented by Dr. Ruan Wei, Senior Researcher, Norinchukin Research Institute, Agricultural and Forestry Central Bank.

Transformation of US energy policies and increasing maize demand
The USA plans to reduce its reliance on Middle East oil by 75 per cent by 2025. To reach this, the government is trying to increase ethanol production to 7.5 billion gallon under the 2005's new Energy Law. Most analysts suggest, however, that the target is set too low, considering that the ethanol production in the USA already reached 4 billion gallon in 2005. This amount equals 3 per cent of total gasoline sales in the country. Maize demand for ethanol production is increasing and represented 14.4 per cent of the total maize production of 2005, while the share of maize export is 19.3 per cent. However, it is anticipated that maize demands for ethanol production will as soon as 2007 surpass export amounts.

From ‘alternative energy’ to ‘price support’
Until recently, cereal production in the USA heavily depended on the export market. Exports presented sometimes more than 40 per cent of total maize production. However, due to shrinking export market in late nineties the cereal price dropped much. The first ethanol plant led by farmers started in 1992 in Nebraska, USA. It was just after the establishment of tax incentives for small-scale ethanol producers and the compulsory use of ethanol based gasoline combustion by the Clean Air Act in 1990. Though the objective of ethanol development was to develop alternative energy, it also aided rural development and created price support through stimulating domestic maize demand. It also contributed to reducing farm subsidies. Some people however criticize that only the primary recipients of subsidies have changed from farmers to the biofuel industry.

USDA agricultural baseline projection to 2015
According to prospects made by USDA (United States Department of Agriculture) for the next decade, US maize export will continue to be only around 20 per cent of its total production. Farm gate price of maize will remain relatively high during the same period. The total planted area of major cereals will be stable, but maize will occupy a larger area mainly due to the increase of continuous maize cropping. As genetically modifies maize becomes more popular, the yield of maize will be continuously improved. The competitiveness of US maize production in the world market will be overwhelming during the prospected period. Maize production is anticipated to catch up with its growing demand due to yield increases.

Ethanol production in China
China enlarged its ethanol production in 2002, because of the increasing amount of maize in stock. In 2005, four ethanol plants supported by the government produced one million ton of ethanol from 3.3 million ton of maize, which is 2.4 per cent of the total maize production. In nine provinces of China, 8 to 12 per cent of ethanol is added to gasoline making gasohol (alcohol mixed gasoline). The total amount of gasohol consumption is around 10 million ton, which is around 20 per cent of the total gasoline consumption in the whole country. It is targeted that the ratio would reach to 50 per cent in 2010. To attain this target, 10 million ton maize will be required for ethanol production. This reflects 7.8 per cent of total maize production of 2005.

Restriction of maize based ethanol plant
Recently, the demand of maize for industrial use increased very rapidly, by more than 20 per cent per year. The reason of expansion is not only ethanol production but also growing cornstarch demand. In responds to the decreased sugar cane exports from Brazil, China is replacing sugar cane by cornstarch. In December 2006, the Chinese government restricted the establishment of new maize ethanol plants. They are now recommending using alternative raw material for ethanol production such as sweet potato, cassava and maize stalks. Government's subsidies for maize ethanol production were reduced from 1,883 yuan/ton in 2005 to 1,628 yuan/ton in 2006, and 1,373 yuan/ton in 2007.

Current food production in China and future prospects
Cereal yields in China are much lower than that of other major cereal producers like the USA. If yields can be improved, this large yield gap presents a potentially large production increase. The Chinese government declared to want to maintain its high level of self-sufficiency (approximately 95 per cent) for three major cereals (rice, maize and wheat) while it will depend on import to meet the rising soybean demand. A higher production of rice, maize and wheat will be achieved mainly through increases in yields, and not by expansion of arable land. However, USDA warns that in spite of China's effort, China will become a maize importing country and it may be a possible factor of price hike in the international market.

Outline of the BIOMASS-project
The above two seminars reported the emerging biofuel production and suggested possible disturbances to the international market in the long run. Though the tangible proof of this impact is not yet given. For poor rural households in developing countries, both positive and negative impacts of expanding biofuel are anticipated. These households commonly produce secondary crops, which are the major stockpiles for biofuel production. Therefore, they might enjoy better prices and a better income due to a raise in commodity demand. Rising food staple prices will however harm small-scale farmers who are net food consumers.

In 2006, JIRCAS and CAPSA started a collaborative research project "Impact Analysis of Expanding Biomass Energy Use to Rural Poverty in Tropical Asia (BIOMASS)" through Special Co-ordination Funds for Promoting Science and Technology of the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology of the Japanese Government. Before the start of the project, some data was collected to determine the focus of the project. This determined that the project will focus on socio-economic aspects of biofuel development, especially its implication to poverty alleviation and sustainable development.

After the Kyoto Protocol came into effect in 2005, more attention has been paid to the development of the biofuel industry. This was not only seen in industrialized countries that have an obligation to reduce green house gas emission under the Kyoto Protocol, but also in developing countries such as Indonesia. Indonesia became a net oil importer and suffers from a huge burden of subsidies for transportation fuels.

Various mechanisms approved under the Kyoto Protocol are planned to initiate a capital flow to developing countries for investments in renewable energy projects. The Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) is proposed as a part of the 'flexibility mechanisms' of the Kyoto Protocol. CDM is expected to promote investments in the development of renewable energy in developing countries, especially in disadvantaged areas where secondary crops, the raw materials for biomass energy, are produced.

The tropical countries in Asia have a large potential for biomass production. It is expected that various large-scale projects concerning the production of some major energy crops (e.g. cassava, oil palm, sugar cane etc.) will be implemented in near future. Initiatives are expected to be taken by both industrialized countries through CDM schemes and by tropical Asian countries themselves. The Indonesian government targets for biofuel to account for about 10 per cent of the country's energy portfolio by 2010. They also expect the sector to create around 3 million jobs and cut foreign-exchange expenditure from importing fuel by US$10 billion by 20102².

Since most of the energy crops are mainly produced by small-scale farmers, we can say that the expanding use of biofuel will probably provide precious opportunities for rural people to improve their welfare. An increased demand for energy crops can contribute to increase the price of these products. Moreover, the installation of biofuel plants will create job opportunities especially for the rural population. The bulkiness of the raw material makes transportation to processing sides expensive. Therefore processing sites are commonly placed near the production sites, meaning that jobs created are mainly for rural people.

On the other hand, if the government fails to manage the biomass development appropriately, some negative impacts will occur such as deforestation, conflicts with food production and negative effects such as water contamination of an increased use of chemical inputs.

To ensure sustainable biofuel development, which is compatible with rural poverty alleviation, it is crucial to analyse how the expanding demand of biomass energy will affect rural society, especially small-scale farmers and poor people who are the potential beneficiaries. The Indonesian government has established a national body in charge for issuing an approval of a CDM project in Indonesia, based on the Environmental Ministry Decree of 2005, namely the National Commission for CDM in Indonesia. Once the application of CDM is submitted, the commission evaluates the project proposal. The evaluation is based on national sustainable development criteria and indicators, which reflect environmental, economic, social and technological aspects. These criteria and indicators can work as practical benchmarks to design the sustainable biomass resource management systems. Estimating possible impacts of biomass energy use in some specific areas will provide useful information and lessons. Lessons that can be used in the policy formulation process to support more sustainable use of local resources and larger contribution to poverty alleviation.

After the completion of the BIOMASS study, all findings will be integrated and published as a working paper. It will be disseminated to policymakers through CAPSA's channels such as country seminars and CAPSA's website. At regional level, the outcome is expected to feed into current regional studies of JIRCAS. JIRCAS has been co-ordinating a research project that aims at developing analytical tools for biomass resource management systems in tropical Asia. Such tools enable policy planners in Asia's developing regions to design sustainable and pro-poor biomass resource management policies. JIRCAS has also been one of the co-organizers of the Asian Biomass Workshops, which have been held three times since 2004. The information collected in the project will be delivered to the participants of these workshops. Participants include researchers and policy planners in Asia's developing countries that work for rural poverty alleviation by expanding the production of biomas raw material.

^* Senior Researcher, Japan International Research Center for Agricultural Sciences (JIRCAS), Tsukuba, Japan.
¹ http://www.agri-outlook.org/
² The Jakarta Post, 25 July 2006.

by Tomohide Sugino, http://www.uncapsa.org

E20 - Bio-Ethanol 20%

Ford is a world class leading automotive company, which is always committed to invent alternative fuelled vehicles. Ford is proud to support Indonesian government in the effort to conserve energy resources through varieties of Ford products in Indonesia.

Ford is fully aware that energy conversation is a very critical issue whether in Indonesia or in global environment. Ford is in a leading position towards more fuel-efficient machine technology development environmental friendly, and is open to new alternative technology utilization such as hybrid, bio-diesel, gasohol, and hydrogen. In Indonesia, Ford has presented the most recent state of the art automotive technology, which is in line with local regulations regarding newest emission level requirements derived from global markets including Europe and United States. Indonesian Government through Pertamina has launched a certain fuel containing substances from vegetable oil such as bio-solar for diesel machines and bio-gasoline for gasoline machines.

Ford Focus variants, which are available in Indonesia, have already been designed to consume gasoline and bio-ethanol mixtures in order to allow 20% of its substance ingredients to be obtained from local plants in Indonesia such as various sugar canes and tubers. Besides Ford Focus that has utilized ethanol as mixing fuel ingredients up to 20%, Ford also has Ford Ranger and Ford Everest that consume Bio-Diesel with 5% mixture of biofuel which are already available in Indonesia.

The development of biofuel has a wide social and economic dimension, which expected to boost economic development in rural and provincial areas, especially for farmer who plant sugar-cane, tuber, and corn since the three farm products are the key-ingredients for producing bio-ethanol. This is also true for farmers producing and palm oil, key ingredients for making bio-diesel fuel. By strengthening the economic development in rural and provincial areas, Ford expect to support and encourage initiatives and programs with regards to social problems such as poverty allegation, urbanization and education programs.

source : http://www.ford.co.id