biofuel for sri lanka

7/28/2019 Biofuel for Sri Lanka

1/17

2012

Sustainable Energy Authority

11/6/2012

SUSTAINABLE BIOFUEL

FOR SRI LANAKA


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Table of Contents

INTRODUCTION ....................................................................................................................................... 2

BIO-FUEL AS AN ALTERNATIVE ................................................................................................................ 4

Profitability of Biofuel ......................................................................................................................... 5

The use of byproducts......................................................................................................................... 5

RESEARCHES ON BIOFUEL IN SRI LANKA ................................................................................................. 6

Bio-ethanol .......................................................................................................................................... 6

Bio-Diesel ............................................................................................................................................ 7

Jatropha .......................................................................................................................................... 7

Biodiesel from waste-oil ................................................................................................................. 8

Biofuel from Algae .......................................................................................................................... 8

GOVERNMENT INVOLVEMENT IN THE PAST......................................................................................... 10

CURRENT SITUATION IN SRI LANKA ...................................................................................................... 11

QUALITY ASSURANCE ............................................................................................................................ 12

THE RECOMMENDATIONS OF THE INTER- MINISTERIAL WORKING COMMITTEE (2010) .................... 14

THE ENVIRONMENTAL TRADEOFFS ...................................................................................................... 15

GOVERNMENT INCENTIVES AND SUPPORT FOR BIOFUEL .................................................................... 15

STAKE OF SUSTAINABLE ENERGY AUTHORITY IN THE BIOFUEL SECTOR .............................................. 16


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INTRODUCTION

The whole world is shifting towards sustainable energy sources as the fossil fuels are

diminishing rapidly. There are many alternate renewable energy sources such as the solar,

hydro, bio-mass, geo-thermal, tidal, bio-fuel, etc. Several compelling issues drive a national

effort to develop and improve technology to make bio-fuels. Our dependence on petroleum

for fueling the transportation sector threatens our energy security, affecting our

environment, and weakening the economy. Developing the technology to produce and use

bio-fuels will create an alternative fuel option for transportation. This will positively impact

these issues and establish safe, clean, sustainable alternatives for petroleum.

According to Sri Lanka Sustainable Energy Authority Energy balance 2007, the total primary

energy requirement of the country is met with biomass (47.4%), hydropower (9.5%) and

imported petroleum (43.0%). The total amount of electricity generated during 2007 was

9,901 GWh out of which 60% was from oil burning thermal power plants while the balance

40% was almost entirely from hydropower. According to the fig 01 the petroleum products

import demand (2062 thousand metric tons) in 2010 is highest in transportation sector

representing 57% percentage from the total demand. The petroleum products demand

increment percentage from the previous year is 11.5%.

This mainly points out that the vehicle usage in our country is rising exponentially. The

annual vehicle registration increases very fast. In year 2010 total vehicle registration is

nearly 7 million where as in 2009 around 6 million. Therefore demand for petroleum

increases day by day. The entire energy requirement of the transport sector was met

through liquid petroleum.

2062.645

(57.4%)

1070.043

(29.8%)

89.581 (2.4%)

367.42578

(10.2%)

Petrolium Products Import demand (Thousand

Metric tonnes) for the year 2010

Transport

Power

generation

Industrial and

Estate sector

Household+Co

mmercial+LPG

Users

Fig 01


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The expert prediction is that the majority of the worlds oil fields will reach maximum

petroleum extraction capacity by 2020 reaching the state of peak oil. After reaching that

state a reduction in pressure causes the rate of production to enter a state of terminal

decline. Meanwhile it is said that the crude oil resources also will reduce by 2050. But this

will be worse than the worst oil crisis that occurred during 1973 and 1979.

The adverse outcome of the oil crisis is inflation of the oil prices. With the increasing

petroleum prices, the country is facing many challenges to keep its retail energy prices at a

range affordable to its consumers. The current oil market is driven by strong demand-sidefactors. These factors include robust economic growth and rising oil demand from rapidly

growing middle-income economies, where consumers are demanding a higher standard of

living and exhibiting big appetites for energy.

To overcome these challenges in the long run the key is to use the indigenous resources and

efficient use of energy. However, up to now, Sri Lanka has been only using the petroleum

fuels for energy. Now the escalating petroleum prices have prompted to examine the

feasibility of using sources such as coal and Liquefied Natural Gas (LGN) to replace

petroleum.

In addition to the feasibility studies, very recently the new energy supply technology such as

the bio-fuels and hydrogen has emerged as alternatives to the conventional technologies.

Compared to the fairly high bio-fuel production in the world, Sri Lanka is still facing

limitations in technology at present, but the sustainable energy focus holds a better future

for the country.

0

200

400

600

800

1,000

1,200

1,400

1,600

1,800

1970

1974

1978

1982

1986

1990

1994

1998

2002

2006

2010

Demand(kto

nnes)

Petrol Auto Diesel Super Diesel


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BIO-FUEL AS AN ALTERNATIVE

The looming energy crisis and climate change at the forefront of everyones minds, there

has never been a better time for alternative energy solutions to shine. Aside from

renewable energies like solar, hydro and wind, a significant amount of research has gone

into finding liquid bio-fuels. In addition to being portable, liquid bio-fuels have high energy

density and are clean burning.

There has been a diverse range of experiments on bio-fuel with varying degrees of success.

The researches were based on edible crops such as soya bean, sugar cane, and oil palm, the

cellulosic biomass of poplar trees, switch grass and toxic shrubs like jatropha. Even the

micro-organisms that make up pond foam and microalgae were part of the research.

Types of bio-fuels,

1. Ethanol the most widely used. Ethanol is an alcohol, and most is made using aprocess similar to brewing beer, in which starch crops are fermented into ethanol,

which is then distilled into its final form. Ethanol made from cellulosic biomass

material, instead of traditional starch crops is called the bio-ethanol. Ethanol can be

used in its pure form, as a blend with gasoline or as a fuel for fuel cells.

2. Methanol an alcohol utilised as a transportation fuel. Presently this is beingproduced using natural gas, through a two-step thermo-chemical process. The

biomass is gasified to produce hydrogen and carbon-monoxide, then they arereacted to produce methanol. This can be used in its pure form as a feedstock for the

gasoline additive methyl tertiary butyl ether (MTBE) or as fuel for fuel cells.

3. Biodiesel a renewable diesel fuel substitute. This is made by chemically combiningany natural oil or fat with an alcohol (usually methanol). Many vegetable oils, animal

fats and recycled cooking greases can be transformed into biodiesel; this method is

not the only one, there are various other ways too.

Biodiesel can be used in the pure form or as a diesel additive. Its typically used as a

fuel additive in 20% blends (B20) with petroleum diesel in compression ignition

(diesel) engine. Other blend levels depend on the cost and the desired benefits.

4. Bio-crude similar to petroleum crude. This is produced by biomass using a fastpyrolysis process. And formed when the biomass derived oil vapours are condensed.

Catalytic cracking then converts bio-crude into transportation fuels.

5. Methane major component of the compressed natural gas which could alternatethe transportation fuel. This can be produced from biomass by a biochemical process

called anaerobic digestion.


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Profitability of Biofuel

This is decided by the availability of low cost feedstock. Feedstock costs are the most

significant cost of biofuel production. Usually it is more than 30% of the total cost. The

percentage varies according to the feedstock used to produce ethanol or biodiesel. In

addition to that nearly 20% of the biofuel operating cost will be due to the energycomponent.

The use of byproducts

The profitability of the biofuel plant is also measured by the sale or productive use of

byproducts.

Dried distillers grain (DDG), a byproduct of corn ethanol production is used as aprotein-rich livestock feed additive. This can add as much as 10-15 percent to

ethanol producers incomes.

Carbon dioxide, usually released into the atmosphere, is captured by some ethanolplants and sold for use in the food and beverage sector.

Bagasse, the fibrous material left over from pressing sugarcane, can be burned toprovide heat for distillation and electricity to power machinery or sold to local

utilities.

Glycerin, a byproduct of biodiesel production, has a wide number of pharmaceutical,food-processing, and feed applications.


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RESEARCHES ON BIOFUEL IN SRI LANKA

There has been a significant amount of research work carried out on biofuel with varying

degrees of successes. This will lead the country on the track of development in technology

and providing with options to alternate the petroleum fuels which is escalating in price on a

regular basis. The petroleum importing cost in the year 2010 was US$ 3.10 billion which rose

to US$ 4.63 billion the next year, a record in the countrys history. An alternative is essential

to overcome this situation.

Bio-ethanol

The leading biofuel production could be that of producing ethanol. Ethanol is a substitute of

petrol; this can be used as a miscible with petrol as we are in the early stages ofsubstitution. There are countries such as Brazil which is using bio-ethanol as a complete

substitute, but most of the North American and European countries are using 5% - 85% of

ethanol mixed with petrol.

The possible raw material base for ethanol production is quite wide ranging from sucrose-

containing feedstock, starchy materials to lignocelluloses biomass. Raw material containing

sugar, starch or cellulose can be fermented and distilled into ethanol. The feedstock could

be from cassava, sweet sorghum, corn, potatoes, wood, waste papers, wheat, brewery

waste, molasses and many other agricultural products and food wastes.

Sri Lanka has a very high potential for ethanol production using sugarcane as a raw material.

Since there are sustainably operating sugar industries in the country, its easier to practically

implement the biofuel production. The Pelwatte sugar industries ltd and the Sevanagala

sugar industries ltd produce substantial amount of sugar per annum. The ethanol

production can be processed in parallel to the sugar production.

Ethanol can be produced using the sugar molasses which is one of the important byproducts

from the sugar factory. Molasses or treacle is thick syrup extracted from the processing of

the sugarcane into sugar. The quality of the molasses depends on the maturity of the sugarcane the amount of sugar extracted and the method of extraction. The sugar industries in

the country are known for their quality the molasses produced. This could effortlessly

facilitate the production of ethanol.

The molasses is not a consumer item, as it is a byproduct of the food crop the government

policy is not infringed by this process. Also the commodity prices are not going to be

affected by the production of bio-ethanol. However initiating the ethanol production will

encourage the farmers to expand their sugarcane farms while stimulating the country, from

the state of importing sugar to exporting it.


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The land area used for sugar cane cultivation currently is approximately 15,000 hectares,

and this could be expanded further up to 40,000 hectares. This could be a good way of using

the lands for the benefit of development.

The bio-ethanol from sugar molasses has a higher potential in the present context than

producing ethanol from any other feedstock. As there is already around 12 million liters of

alcohol production per annum at Pelwatte and Sevanagala sugar factories, initiating the

blending with petrol is not very intricate.

The present sugar cane production is 700,000mt per annum, 4.5% of the sugarcane quantity

produces the molasses which is used in the making of alcohol. The ethanol produced using

this molasses is still not used as a biofuel miscible with petrol. Also the Pelwatte factory

claims to be operating under capacity, overcoming these shortcomings will easily improve

the bio-ethanol sector in the country.

Bio-Diesel

The consumption of diesel is greater than that of petrol and fuels. Biodiesel is the ideal

alternate for diesel. A clean burning fuel and could be completely producible with

renewable resources. The possible biofuel crops considered for biodiesel are not used for

food. This will not be a concern regarding the commodity prices.

The bio-diesel is made by chemically reacting lipids with a primary alcohol producing fattyacid esters. These fuels contain no petroleum (fossil) but can be blended at any level of

petroleum diesel to create a biodiesel blend. Usually methanol, primary alcohol is used to

react with the lipids such as the vegetable oils, animal fats, etc.

The source material for the biodiesel production has passed three generations, from the

edible crops to non-edible crops and now finally to the algae based feedstock.

The following raw materials are used to produce the lipids that are reacted with the primary

alcohol. They are jatropha, neem, oil palm, rubber, coconut, pongamia, algae. All of these

raw materials can be processed in different ways to extract oil from them. All of these rawmaterials have a good potential to be used up for biodiesel in Sri Lanka. In addition to these

raw materials there are also the used products such as the cooking oils, waste coffee

grounds, etc. that could be used as the lipids.

Jatropha

The jatropha plant is an economically viable biofuel crop when growing in arid and marginal

lands. But compared to other countries globally, we do not have much arid land which is


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bare, since most lands are occupied for growing economic crops, replacing other crops with

jatropha plantation in monoculture is not economically viable.

The common perspective of the economic unviability of the plantation could be overcome

by planting them combined with other suitable species comprising the agricultural, herbal

components resulting in the ecological viability as well as the economic profitability.

Practical Action, a NGO, with some of the technical universities conducted a research and

implemented the biodiesel from jatropha practically in a village by running tractors, water

pumps and etc. The project was decided to be carried on as a community project but was

not sustained due to several reasons.

The biodiesel production could be well implemented at the national level once the

plantation is successfully executed. And a continuous overlook is provided by a governing

body.

Biodiesel from waste-oil

The potential for the biodiesel from waste oil is another sector that could be easily executed

by collecting waste oil from restaurants, fast food outlets and neighborhood diners. As a

country with a well-developed tourism industry there are quite a number of restaurants

with waste oil at disposal every day. By using this relatively inexpensive feedstock the cost

of production can be reduced.

In accordance to a research result approximately 20,000 litres of fuel could be produced per

day using the waste oil from the diners. This is a satisfying method of biofuel production as

it does not affect the edible food or the commodity prices since its from the waste, also a

good way to save the environment from the pollution of waste oils.

The sustainable energy authority has received a proposal on a biodiesel project for Sri

Lanka, which details out on producing biodiesel using the waste oil from restaurants and

palm nut oil. The waste oil is used in the process to reduce the cost of production of the

biodiesel. The CHRISTOMBU is currently considering its establishment for the advancementof this project in Sri Lanka. They will operate to facilitate the production of biofuel by

collecting waste oil from the restaurants and manufacturing fuel.

Biofuel from Algae

Algae are tiny biological factories that use photosynthesis to transform carbon dioxide and

sunlight into energy so efficiently that they can double their weight several times a day. As

part of the photosynthesis process algae produce oil and can generate 15 times more oil peracre than other plants used for biofuels, such as corn and switch grass. Algae can grow in


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salt water, freshwater or even contaminated water, at sea or in ponds, and on land not

suitable for food production.

On top of those advantages, algae at least in theory should grow even better when fed

extra carbon dioxide (the main greenhouse gas) and organic material like sewage. If so,

algae could produce biofuel while cleaning up other problems.

Sri Lanka requires a kick-start in the biofuel industry as in already has the required resources

and sufficient researches to implement the process to practice.

The private sector shows more interest in looking for alternative solutions for the fuel crisis

at present. Holcim (pvt) Ltd, a cement and related product manufacturing company has

made agreements with the Algae Tec of Australia, for the production of biofuel from algae

using there technology. A pilot project will be carried out to check the feasibility and endure

it depending on the success of the project.

The future in this sector for our country depends on the government support for the

development of algae plants. The Australian technology doesnt require the destruction of

any crops or plantation as they use containers for the algae plantation. This technology will

benefit us a lot since diesel is one of the major component in our fuel imports.


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GOVERNMENT INVOLVEMENT IN THE PAST

According to LankaNewspapers on 6th July 2008,

The Sri Lankan government has taken steps to accelerate the cultivation of Sugarcane in a

bid to save billions of rupees from the country`s annual fuel bill. Accordingly the Ministry of

Supplementary Crops Development and the Sugarcane Research Institute have come out

with a plan to cultivate sugarcane in the Badulla, Ampara and Moneragala districts where

vast areas of land is available.

It is also reported that a land area exceeding 40,000 hectares is available in Anuradhapura

District for the cultivation of Sugarcane. Sugarcane can be used as a bio-fuel alternative to

gasoline. Most bio-fuel is currently in the form of ethanol generated from corn grain or

sugarcane.

Sri Lanka imports around 500,000 Metric tons of sugar per year at a cost of Rs. 20

billion. The country produces 10 per cent of its annual requirement of sugar which is around

550,000 metric ton. Around 15,000 hectares of sugarcane are cultivated in Pelwatte and

Sevanagala. By promoting sugarcane cultivation more ethanol could be produced to

increase blending with petrol up to 5 per cent.

Bagasse, a byproduct of the sugarcane industry can be used to generate electricity and

manufacture organic fertilizer.


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CURRENT SITUATION IN SRI LANKA

The Ministry of Petroleum and Petroleum Resources Development has released guidelines

to be implemented for the formulation and usage of biofuel in Sri Lanka. The Ministry of

Science & Technology has appointed an inter-ministerial committee to look into promotion

of biofuel. A road map for biofuel has been developed by the Sri Lanka Sustainable Energy

Authority and a community based fuel plantation and processing project by Practical Action

is in place. It is known that there is much interest in biofuel among companies in the private

sector.

The biofuel research project have been conducted by the Universities of Peradeniya and

Ruhuna and backed by the Practical Action organization is to produce biodiesel to run small

tractors, water pumps and to generate electricity in the villages. Even though the pilot

project turned out to be successful, it was not continued further due to various reasons.

The Sri Lankan economy mostly relies exclusively on crude oil imports and any biofuel

production in the island will help alleviate the crippling addiction to oil. In addition to the

expansion of the biofuel industry this will also boosts up the agricultural industry which is

sliding down due to the current market conditions.


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QUALITY ASSURANCE

The biofuel industry will not be a success without proper quality control on biofuel

produced. This will be an important factor when considering the blending with the

petroleum fuels. The assurance of the quality control information facilities should be

certifies by acceptable government authority such as Sri Lanka standards institute,

industries technology institute, institute of chemistry, etc.

The biofuel producers should be accredited by the enforcement authority in order to ensure

the quality assurance, quality management system and analogous quality production

standards. Also this gives them the permission to produce and sell biofuels.

Blending

The blending shall be undertaken by the Petroleum marketing companies and this shall be

introduced into the market in three steps,

1. As an additive blended in centralised locations- Having both biofuel blends and conventional fuels in the retail outlets.- Making biofuel mandatory for government vehicles or special captive fleets.- Mandatory biofuels for all the vehicles.

2. Moving centralised blending into higher biofuel blends3. Blending done at pump level or centrally.

The important factor is to take all possible preventive measures to avoid water

contamination especially in handling and storing bio-ethanol.

Also special care should be taken to limit the maximum blend in biodiesel to be 20%,

because higher combination may affect the diesel engine.


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IMPLEMENTING THE USE OF BIOFUEL

The inter-ministerial working committee on implementing biofuel use discussed on the

usage of imported petroleum fuel in transportation which is nearly 50% of the total import

and the benefits of biofuels in the national level. From the environmental point of view the

pollution of the atmosphere could be reduced using the biofuel usage. There are quite a

number of available options for the developments of biofuel. Utilizing the biofuel options

skillfully could save the country nearly US$170 million in foreign exchange and the reduction

in GHG emission, reducing the global warming potential.

Cost of the biofuel usage

Assuming a 25% incentive is needed to produce biofuels commercially, the amount of

money required for such an incentive is as follows,

For the replacement of 10% petrol used in the transport sector:

Annual consumption of petrol : 700,000,000 litres/year 10% of above: 70,000,000 litres/year CIF value of 1 litre of petrol: Rs.60/litre 25% incentive: Rs.1,050,000,000 / year Annual consumption of diesel: 1,600,000,000 litres/year 10% of above: 160,000,000 litres/year CIF value of 1 litre of diesel: Rs.65/litre 25% incentive: Rs.2,600,000,000/year

Total incentive requirement for substitution of both petrol and diesel at 10% in the

transport sector is Rs.3, 650,000,000/year

The above predictions were calculated based on the consumption and prices on the year

2009.

The amount of money requirement for the future,

Year Contribution as percentage of current

consumption

Amount of money required

(Rs.)

2010 1% 365,000,000

2011 2% 730,000,000

2012 4% 1,460,000,000

2013 6% 2,190,000,000

2014 8% 2,920,000,000

2015 10% 3,650,000,000


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THE RECOMMENDATIONS OF THE INTER- MINISTERIAL WORKING

COMMITTEE (2010)

1. The target share of biofuels in the transport sector should be 10% of total transportfuel by the year 2015.

2. All biofuels produced in the country for transport application shall confirm toguidelines specified by the ministry of petroleum and petroleum resources

development.

3. CPC should be encouraged to purchase all locally manufactured biofuels whichconfirm to the standards and to blend them appropriately and market them through

the normal channels for commercial use.

4. The prices payable for the biofuel manufactured in Sri Lanka consists of payment tothe producer by CPC, based on the equivalent CIF price of respective petroleum

fuel. And the government incentive calculated using the cost.


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THE ENVIRONMENTAL TRADEOFFS

A key interest in developing or expanding biofuel production and use is the environmental

benefits, including the potential to reduce emissions, such as greenhouse gases (GHG). An

estimated 25 percent of manmade global carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, a leading GHG,

come from road transport. Global road transport has grown rapidly over the past 40 years

and is projected to continue to increase, especially in middle-income countries experiencing

rapid economic growth, middle-class expansion, and urbanization.

Both biofuels and gasoline give off CO2, when burned. Biofuels are theoretically carbon

neutral, releasing CO2 recently absorbed from the atmosphere by the crops used to produce

them. Gasoline and other fossil fuels add to the CO2 supply in the atmosphere by giving off

CO2 absorbed and trapped in plant material millions of years ago.

The advantage of biofuels is less clear in a life-cycle analysis that examines not just

combustion, but the production and processing of the feedstock into fuel. Most studies

indicate that the net energy balance of biofuels is positive (energy output is greater than

energy input), but estimates vary widely. Net balances are small for corn ethanol and more

significant for biodiesel from soybeans and ethanol from sugarcane and from cellulose. The

biofuel with the highest net energy balance reduces GHG the most when compared with

that for gasoline.

GOVERNMENT INCENTIVES AND SUPPORT FOR BIOFUEL

The stakeholders of the biofuel industry are going to be benefited by the incentives given by

the government. There will be concessions in the tax rates for the imports on feedstock and

exemption of VAT sale of feedstock.

In addition to that the pricing formulae could be decided to support the developments in

the biofuel sector and the enforcement authority will determine a mandatory quantity of

biofuel for purchase through the Department of treasury to be used in the government fleet

of vehicles.


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STAKE OF SUSTAINABLE ENERGY AUTHORITY IN THE BIOFUEL SECTOR

Sustainable energy authority of Sri Lanka (SEA) is responsible for most of the biofuel related

activities. The SAARC seminar on biofuel in 2008 was organized and successfully executed by

the SEA.

A major role was played by SEA in the formulation of the guidelines for the policy on

biofuels and the preparation of standards and regulations on the biofuels for Sri Lanka.

SEA is also a tec member in the preparation of the international criteria for the biofuel

energy, ISO 13065

A road map on the biofuel sources is almost towards the completion level.

In addition to all of these any biofuel related production need to be registered for energypermit here and can be processed further only after the approval by the director general.

biofuel for sri lanka

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