biofuels investment for poverty alleviation & sustainable development in thailand

Biofuel Investment for Poverty Alleviation &

Sustainable DevelopmentIn Thailand

Out of 10 poor persons in Thailand:

Almost all are farmers

5 live in the Northeast

3 live in the North

1 lives in the South

Income Gap

The Northeast has 35% of Thailand’s population and 65% of its agricultural land, yet...

Only 9% of Thailand’s GDP

Only 20% of agricultural GDP

To combat poverty in Thailand, we must boost

farmers’ income

Contract farming for biofuel projects:

Guaranteed prices of feed stock

Guaranteed quantities

Guaranteed income for farmers

Contract farming to boost income, and..........

Empowerment: self-sufficiency

Training and other forms of education

Creation of social safety net

Bioethanol projects

Possible locations:NorthNortheastSouthCentral

Bioethanol Project Overview:

Sweet sorghum contract farming

Bioethanol plant

Cogen power plant

sweet sorghum contract farming

Crop area: 24,000 hectares

3,000 families under contract farming; 15,000 persons total

Project guarantees price and quantity

bioethanol refinery

Bioethanol refinery: 550,000 litres/day

Bioethanol sold to PTT, Bangchak, etc. under long-term contract

Feedstock: 1.7 million tons sweet sorghum juice per year

cogen power plant

37 MW gross; 23 MW net export to grid

Electricity sold to EGAT under long-term contract

Feedstock: 485,000 tons sweet sorghum bagasse per year

Technical Overview

24,000 hectares grown by 3,000 families via cooperatives; 2.3 million tons per year

High yield sweet sorghum varieties; Stalk weights, fiber content

Impacts of Project

Farmers’ Income Impact

Income after expenses:

Per family: US$ 6,200/year

3 times World Bank’s poverty level

Savings in petrol imports:

US$ 85 million/year

Energy Security Impact

Green energyproject finance, development

& carbon finance

...Sawadee Krab :)

thawat@at-tri.com