Thailand to produce 2m liters of ethanol by 2002

Thailand to produce 2m liters of ethanol by 2002

BANGKOK (DPA): As part of the government's effort to reduce
dependency on imported fuels, the newly established National
Ethanol Committee has set a production target of two million
liters of the alternative fuel by the year 2002, news reports
said Sunday.

The National Ethanol Committee will announce its master plan
later this month, said the Bangkok Post.

Under the master plan, vehicles in Thailand will be switched
to gasahol - a mixture of petrol and locally-refined ethanol - by
the end of 2002, said Ongard Ponglux, a senior member of the
ethanol committee. The group was set up to form policies and
regulations and come up with a master plan for the local
production of ethanol, a by- product of agricultural waste.

If Thailand meets the goal, it could replace 10 percent of the
country's total fuel consumption with the locally-made
alternative, said Ongard.

The project, hatched earlier this year amid world oil price
hikes, would include government support for private sector
production of ethanol in the form of incentives and subsidies,
said the Bangkok Post.

Thailand's National Ethanol Committee recently signed a
memorandum of understanding on technology transfer with the Sao
Paulo State Sugar Cane Agro-Industry Association, a major ethanol
producer in Brazil.

Brazil has been using ethanol as an alternative fuel for 25
years.