Gasohol BE 10, a fuel substitute from cassava

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.