Nigerian Sugar Council Wants E10 to Buffer from Global Oil Demand Shifts
by Meghan Sapp (Biofuels Digest) In Nigeria, the National Sugar Development Council wants the country to develop an E10 blending mandate in line with China’s in an effort to boost the agricultural economy and reduce dependence on its oil imports. The government has voiced concerns about China’s shift to E10, which will have an impact on demand for oil imports from Nigeria. That, combined with European countries looking to shift towards all-electric vehicle fleets in the next few decades, has the country nervous. The NSDC believes producing ethanol domestically for blending will help to offset those future demand shifts. READ MORE and MORE (This Day Live)
Excerpt from This Day Live: The federal government has also admitted unease at China’s plan to begin to use bio-ethanol gasoline across the country by 2020.
The use of bio-fuel, seen as an alternative to fossil energy, is discomfiting for Nigeria as China is one of the major buyers of her crude oil.
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“It is not a particularly soothing news for us because with this development, there will be less demand for oil and gas. By 2030, all these countries will be using electric cars. The only way to prepare us from the revenue that will no longer be available from oil is by focusing on agriculture,” Ogbeh (Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Chief Audu Ogbeh) said in a speech read by his Special Assistant, Winifred Ochinyabo.
The minister said that only 44 per cent of Nigeria’s 79 million hectare of arable land was currently utilised, while the country requires six million metric tonnes of rice per annual to feed its large population.
The agricultural workshop was held for the NAF officers to encourage them to embrace farming after retirement.
The programme covered orientation on distribution of inputs materials, warehousing, processing of food, livestock farming, bio-fuel production and running of agric extension work. READ MORE
