Agencia de Informacao de Mocambique (Maputo)
29 August 2007
Maputo — The Mozambican oil company Petromoc, together with its partners, is working to raise 408 million US dollars to finance a project of production of bio-biofuels.
Claudio James, one of the Petromoc engineers, told MediaFax on Tuesday that the project, to be implemented in three phases, is set to create about 800 job posts and substantially reduce the country's expenses with fuel.
'The project has been designed already, and Petromoc and its partners are raising funds for its implementation, which implies planting 45,000 hectares of jatropha, that will yield about 500,000 tonnes of raw material to produce 226 million litres of bio-fuels a year', he said.
As partners, Petromoc is counting on the Brazilian INM International, Sonipal Ltd, and Aruangua agro-industrial.
Meanwhile, Petromoc has a project underway to produce bio-diesel, costed at about four million US dollars, that is also being implemented in phases, the first of which has already cost 600,000 US dollars.
'We are in the pilot phase for the production of bio-diesel, where we use coconut oil, but we are also considering other crops, such as jatropha', said James.
He believes that within 36 to 48 months, Mozambique will be able to produce enough bio-diesel to supply the entire country.
There is currently a company busy planting palm trees, but because it takes about seven years before the plants start producing, jatropha is thought of as the quickest way out.
There is already an installed capacity to produce 80,000 litres of bio-diesel a day.
James said he is hoping the government will grant incentives for the production of bio-diesel.
Petromoc counts now on 3,000 hectares for the planting of jatropha, and a study for the full swing of the project is to be finalised soon.
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