‘Use of Biofuels’ll Reduce Expenditure on Fossil Fuels’

by John Ofikhenua (The Nation) The Acting Executive Director, Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA), Mr. Victor Zamani Shidok, has said the shift to biofuels could reduce expenditure on fossil fuels by 10 per cent.

Shidok explained that if the government could organise the stakeholders to implement the policy, “E10 simply means that 10 per cent of what you are incurring importing these commodities will be saved. It will be replaced by local production. When we are able to go up to E20, 20 per cent will be saved. So, imagine what will happen if we get to a stage like the same like Israel and Sweden now, we are 90 per cent; that means that 90 per cent of what we are spending importing petrol will be saved.”

Shidok noted that though the policy was initiated since 2007, the agency has not mustered the will to implement the policy.

According to him, the initiative is being undertaken by the Ministry of Petroleum Resources, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), states and Federal Government, other stakeholders that include feedstock farmers, blenders, depot owners and potential investors.

He added that the agency would organise a national capacity building and sensitisation workshop on the biofuel industry soon to further enlighten Nigerians on the benefits of exploring the enormous potential in biofuel. READ MORE and MORE (Biofuels International) and MORE (Punch)