In a bid to link the oil sector with the nation's economy and in particular the agricultural sector, a fuel ethanol programme has been put in place by the NNPC. The programme which is predicated on the development of large scale cassava and sugar cane plantations is already receiving focused attention, since a renewable energy division has been created by the NNPC to midwife the programme. According to the NNPC group managing director, Funsho Kupolokun, the objective of the programme is to explore sources of bio-mass that can be used to produce fuel ethanol.
Ethanol has been known to man as the intoxicating ingredient in alcoholic beverages albeit presently it is produced as a petrochemical through the hydration of ethylene. On a global scale, it is generally believed that the world produced, as late as 2004, enough ethanol to the tune of two percent of global gasoline consumption. While in the U.S, one of the world's largest producers of ethanol, the main feeds-tock for t he production of ethanol is corn, from which it recorded a 5 billion litre capacity with plans to upgrade it to 7.5 billion litres by 2012. The Chinese produced about one billion litres of ethanol from their wheat and corn rich provinces, France, leading other European nations produced over 200 million gallons of the product from sugar beets and wheat. The most preferred stock in warmer climates, however, is sugarcane and this is where Brazil leads the world with a production level of 14 billion litres, enough to replace about 40 per cent of its gasoline demand. As a world leader in fuel ethanol production, most new cars in the country are "flexible-fuel vehicles" that can run on either ethanol, gasoline or any blend of the two.
Brazilian drivers have at least 29,000 filling stations around the country where they can fill up with ethanol. In the U.S., ethanol is commonly blended with gasoline to produce a hybrid nicknamed "gasohol", available from 600 gas stations nationwide .
"Fuel ethanol is an anti knock additive in gasoline and it is emerging as an important motor fuel in view of the Kyoto protocol agreement to which Nigeria is a signatory," Kupolokun explained. Because ethanol is produced theologically by fermenting sugars with yeast, other sources include switchgrass, and cassava. Switchgrass, a hardy, tall and perennial grass used by farmers for erosion control leads the list of "energy crops" from which ethanol can be derived as it "requires minimal irrig-ation, fertiliser or herbicides but yields (between) 2-3 times more ethanol per acre than corn (or other starch crops) does", according to the Earth Policy Institute. The Nigerian programme favours cassava and sugarcane. Apart from the fact that as a tropical nation sugarcane would be most preferred, the Institute points at sugarcane as the being by far the most efficient of the present ethanol producing feedstocks - "yielding eight times as much energy as is needed to produce the ethan ol".
It added: "Given their positive energy balances and higher yields, it, therefore, makes more sense to produce ethanol from sugar crops than from grains". The NNPC has so far worked out plans to acquire farmlands in Anambra, Benue and Cross River for large scale cultivation of cassava. It has acquired a large plantation site of over 20,000 hectares at Agufa village for the large scale production of cassava and sugar cane in Jigawa State and already an MoU in that regard has been signed between the two parties. The MoU is expected to be a win-win situation for both parties as the NNPC will reap between 75 million and 100 million litres of ethanol and up to 80,000 metric ton-nes of sugarcane annually, while state will in turn generate employment and invariably wealth for its citizens. In addition, the venture will also enable the Jigawa government to acquire world-class technology and farm management best practices in the large scale production of sugarcane.
According to t he Group General Manager (GGM) in charge of the NNPC's Renewable Energy Unit, Anochie Anyaoku, a small plant will be established at the farm site in a joint venture form for processing the sugarcane, because construction of a refinery would take between two to three years and an investment of up to two billion dollars. "This (ethanol) initiative is private-sector driven and already local and foreign investors, as well as multin-ationals are currently being engaged", Anyaoku said in an apparent answer to questions of the possible sources of investment for the project. The project will target blending 10 percent ethanol with petrol with plans to increasing the ratio to 25 per cent by 2008, he said, stressing that besides producing ethanol fuel, the project also has the potential of generating up to 15 MW of electricity from a "biogas-fed cogeneration plant". "The NNPC, PetroBras and COIMEX, all of Brazil have already signed an agreement for the take-off of the Nigeria ethanol fuel programme," Kupolokun said. He said already a programme for ethanol importation, blending, distribution and monitoring has been worked out before the NNPC large scale production of sugar cane and cassava across the country reach maturity stage. The GMD said reception facilities have been put in place for the importation of ethanol at Atlas Cove and Mosimi depots, while the NNPC is currently revamping its facilities in the refineries and Mosimi depot in preparation for ethanol fuel production.
Kupolokun expressed optimism that the fuel ethanol industry programme would be firmly on ground before the end of this year. "I hope consumers will start buying ethanol fuel before the end of the year given the work programme on ground," he said. Construction of retail stations to solely dipense ethanol fuel to motorists may, however, be some distance away, as the blending ratio of ethanol to petrol increases in the years ahead, constructing ethanol dispensing pumps may have to be a necessity. It is no accident that Brazil, the world leader in ethanol production, who programme in 1975 as part of efforts to free itself from the chokehold on the economy by soaring oil prices should be the natural partner for the NNPC's programme, especially given at fact that its ethanol production is exclusively from sugarcane. Kupolokun noted that Brazil adopted ethanol fuel initiative 30 years ago and Nigeria was willing to share its experiences in order to achieve the desired objectives.
He views the agree-ment as a clear demonstration of South/South cooperation between Nigeria and Brazil. It is also expected that the programme will also result in new technological cooperation in agriculture and other emerging technologies in biomass fuel between Nigeria and Brazil, he added. The Brazilians have been promoting biofuel production and offering their expertise to other developing countries to develop their own ethanol industries with a view to making ethanol a global c ommodity. Participants at the 2006 National 'Oil and Gas Conference' held in April, heard that Nigeria's ethanol initiative is built on four components - specific cultivation project, formation of partnerships, policy creation and the seeding of initiatives across stakeholders. The spin-offs from these are expected in job creation, rural wealth creation and energy self-sufficiency. Specifically, the programme is expected to, among other things; address the inadequate refining capacity of the nation maximise carbon credit opportunities; reduce domestic use of petrol and by extension free up more crude oil for export and Position Nigeria for the development of 'green fuels' In the long term, the programme would save the country between 100 and 130 million dollars annually from importation of fuel, Kupolokun said. According to him, the initiative is part of the economic reform agenda of government which is aimed at rejuvenating and repositioning the economy by generating employ ment, promoting capacity building and a cleaner environment.
Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters
Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox
Although NNPC officials have chosen to keep mute on the level of investment required to drive this initiative to fruition, they are keen to enthuse about the long term goal of Nigeria joining the league of ethanol exporting countries. (N A N)
