Obstacles Hinder the Switch to E5 Biofuel
(Vietnam.net) There are only two months left until January 1, 2018, the date set for the nation to switch from RON A92 petrol to bio-fuel E5, but the plan is facing problems. — According to calculations by the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MOIT), from the beginning of 2018 when RON A92 petrol disappears, the country will need about 5.5 million cubic metre of E5 fuel. This means creating 250,000-270,000 tonnes of Ethanol E100 as the raw material for bio-fuel blending.
MOIT forecasts that the domestic supply of E100 will reach about 520,000 cubic metres per year, adequate to meet the demand for the blend of the new environmentally friendlier E5 fuel, a mix of A92 petrol (95 per cent) and Ethanol E100 (5 per cent).
At a conference held by the Ministry of Industry and Trade on Tuesday in Hanoi, Phan The Rue, chairman of the Vietnam Petroleum Association (Vinpa), said that although many large petrol agents had urgently prepared for the supply of E5 bio-fuel to meet local and national demand, the State still needed to support petty traders with weaker financial capacity so that they can keep up with the changes.
To qualify for selling E5 bio-fuel, traders need to allocate additional fuel pumping facilities and storage tanks for biofuel E5 at their petrol stations. This requires a large amount of capital. Other expenses involved could also be quite high, Rue said.
Apart from this, consumers were not really confident about E5 fuel, Rue said, adding that the current E5 bio-fuel consumption accounted for only 9 per cent of total petroleum consumption in the market.
A representative of the Department of Industry and Trade in HCM City – one of the pioneers in the application of E5 bio-fuel – said that on August 31 this year, the city had 240 out of 533 petrol stations distributing E5 bio-fuel. READ MORE
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