Ethanol-blended petrol to be on sale in Hanoi

Hanoi (VNA) - The Petrolchemical and Bio Fuel Joint Stock Company (PVB) said it will sell E5 ethanol blend petrol on a trial basis next week at two petrol stations in Hanoi .

The mixed petrol, with five percent of ethanol is priced slightly lower
than conventional petrol types.

PVB General Director Vu Thanh Ha said that motor vehicles running on E5
ethanol-blended fuel can cut their fuel consumption by 2-3 percent and
carbon dioxide emissions by 60-70 percent compared with normal petrol.

Several members of the Hanoi Taxi Association will use the imported
bio-petrol in the trial period.

PVB has invested 80 million USD in building an ethanol production plant and
developing a cassava and sugar cane growing zone in northern mountainous
Phu Tho province to supply materials for the plan, which has an annual
capacity of 100,000 cu.m and is expected to be completed by the end of this
year. The company hopes to produce ethanol blend petrol by 2010.

Another plant, which will be built by the Vietnam Oil and Gas Corporation
in central coastal Binh Dinh province, is expected to be operational one
year after the plant in Phu Tho province. The two plants will consume around
400,000 tonnes of dried cassava each year.

However, Dr. Bui Van Ga, an experienced researcher on alternative fuels
warned that Vietnam should ensure food security while seeking to
increase the use of biofuel.

At present, more than 50 countries and territories worldwide are using
bio-fuels. Seventy-five percent of 50 billion litres of ethanol produced in
the world in 2006 were used as fuel.-Enditem