Gasohol BE 10, a fuel substitute from cassava
The nation's fuel crisis has made many aware of the urgent need for Indonesia to seek alternative fuel sources to prevent such problems from reoccurring. One fuel mix that would economize the use of gasoline and is also more environmentally friendly than traditional mixes is Gasohol BE 10. Oyos Saroso, The Jakarta Post stringer in Bandarlampung, writes the first of two articles about gasohol.
Eko Winarto can still smile despite the shortage of Premium gasoline in Central Lampung, not because he still has an ample supply of the fuel, but because his old motorbike, a 1980 Honda, can accelerate faster on a new Premium-saving mix, gasohol.
Eko says the bike's exhaust pipe produces less noise and the motorbike feels more responsive -- like it wants to run away on him.
"The engine no longer stalls. The carburetor is always clean and entirely free from traces of dirt and water sediments. And the most important thing is -- it accelerates quicker," Eko told The Jakarta Post, grinning.
Eko is an employee at the technical and engineering division of the Starch Research Center under the auspices of the Agency for the Assessment and the Application of Technology (BPPT), located in Sulusuban, Terbanggi Besar, about 250 kilometers north of Bandarlampung.
The supervisor of a pilot project on the use of cassava as an alternative source for bioethanol, Eko's motorbike not only takes him to work every day -- it is part of his work. Several colleagues, including Lampung BPPT head Agus Eko Tjahjono also use the fuel they produce to run their vehicles.
The production of Gasohol BE 10, a fuel additive/substitute, is a relatively simple process. The cassava plant is first peeled with a machine and then processed until the organic mix reaches an alcohol level of 96 percent -- equivalent to bioethanol grade fuel.
It is then blended with Premium gasoline at a ratio of 10:90 -- hence its name bioethanol gasohol, or Gasohol BE 10.
As an additive agent, gasohol can be mixed with gasoline to a ratio of 20:80 without having to modify the engines of most vehicles. Trials have shown that gasohol contains more oxygen, which makes engine combustion more complete, and creates less carbon emissions, making it more eco-friendly than other mixes.
Agus, a fermentation technology expert who graduated from Japan's Hiroshima University in 1994, said the bioenergy fuels produced by BBTP Lampung were superior to regular gasoline or the Pertamax currently on the market.
"My car engine has never stalled after using gasohol. It accelerates faster, runs smoothly and its emission level is low, because Gasohol BE 10 emits less carbon monoxide and hydrocarbon compared to gasoline," he said.
State Minister of Research and Technology Kusmayanto Kadiman's driver once tried out the gasohol in the minister's car. At first he thought the 2000 Opel Blazer had been reconditioned, Agus said.
As gasohol is still in the trial stages, only a select few are using it, with Kusmayanto filling his white Land Rover Discovery with the fuel since Jan. 27; the day it was made public at the Central BPPT in Jakarta.
While the additive is slowly gaining acceptance here, the idea for it has been around for a long time. The project in Lampung was first established in 1983, with the processing equipment and the 200-hectare facility on a 2,000-ha plot of land in Sulusuban funded by the Japanese government.
The project sees BPPT researchers working together with the area's residents, who help grow the cassava crop. The BPPT also has about 1,000 ha of agency-managed cassava and corn plantations.
The project was ceased in the mid-1986s when oil prices plunged drastically to around US$10.00 a barrel, making fuel- saving substitutes uneconomic to produce.
It was revived in 2002 as the nation's oil production capacity dropped and domestic fuel consumption began to surge.
"When local fuel production drops and the total consumption of fuel increases, whether we like it or not, we have to turn to bioethanol," Agus said.
"We will continue to encourage the public to use gasohol, we will ensure it meets government standards and we hope to distribute it on the market."
Agus said gasohol would reduce processed oil imports significantly if it was sold on the market, and could mean Indonesia would no longer need to import extra fuel to meet domestic demand.
Lampung BPPT ethanol and derivative technology division head Arif Yudiarto said recent trials with a Toyota Kijang van traveling at an average speed of 80 km/h proved that the quality of Gasohol BE 10 surpassed that of Premium and Pertamax brands.
"Ethanol contains 35 percent oxygen, and it can replace methyl tertiary butyl ether. Ethanol can easily dissolve in water and this doesn't cause water pollution unlike pure gasoline, which has higher levels of toxic gases, such as carbon and aromatic agents. Gasoline, meanwhile, is not water-soluble and causes more pollution," he said.
Gasohol has long been used in the United States, Canada, India, Thailand, China, the Philippines and Japan, where it is mixed 10:90 with regular gasoline. Brazil is the only country that uses a 20:80 split.