Thailand eyes to become ASEAN hub of biofuels development

BANGKOK, August 20 (TNA) - The government, through the Ministry of Energy, eyes to promote Thailand to become a hub of biofuels development in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in the future. Thammayot Srichuai, Director-General of the ministry's Department of Alternative Energy Development and Efficiency, announced the policy at a seminar on Thailand's direction of promoting and developing of biofuels, held in Bangkok on Thursday. To realize the policy, Thammayot said, his department has worked out the Alternative Energy Development Plan (AEDP), under which domestic consumption of bio-diesel was set at 7.2 million litres per day, equivalent to about 10 per cent of diesel consumption, and ethanol at 9 million litres per day by 2021. Thammayot acknowledged that his department will also cooperate with the private sector to promote more domestic consumption of biofuels and develop relevant technologies to support the policy. Thammayot pointed out that domestic consumption of bio-diesel (B100) alone during the first six months of this year stood at 2.65 million litres per day on average and there are signs that its use should further increase in the future, along with the rising use of diesel. Besides, domestic consumption of ethanol totaled 3.5 million litres per day on average during the same January-June 2015 period, all of which was produced in the country. Thammayot stressed his ministry will encourage more use of both kinds of biofuels in the future, while his department will conduct a study whether it is possible to increase the proportion of bio-diesel in mixtures of biofuels beyond the existing benchmark of B7 and to also increase its sales. For ethanol, a similar study will also be conducted whether several mixtures which are offered in the market should continue. According to the senior official, it is expected that new kinds of biofuels should substitute fossil oil in Thailand in the future, as research and development (R&D) are underway so that it should be produced and promote the Kingdom as an ASEAN hub of biofuels development. (TNA)