Singapore can ride on South East Asia's rise as global biofuel player

Besides building bio-diesel plants, Singapore can take on export, logistics roles: Expert
Alvin Foo, Straits Times 14 Dec 07;

SOUTH-EAST Asia, which is rich in palm oil, will play an increasingly important role in the world's biofuel market in the next five to 10 years.

And Singapore can position itself as a key export and logistics player for biofuel in the region, said a top Brazilian energy official on the sidelines of an energy seminar in the Republic yesterday.

Mr Ricardo Borges Gomide, deputy director of Brazil's Ministry of Mines and Energy (renewable fuels department), spoke at an Institute of South-east Asian Studies seminar entitled Biofuels And Renewable Sources Of Energy In Brazil: The Ethanol Experience.

He told The Straits Times after the talk: 'South-east Asia is going to play a stronger role in the bio-diesel sector in the next few years because palm oil will become more popular as a feedstock for bio-diesel. It is more efficient and productive.'

Industry experts say palm oil is one of the most efficient feedstocks for bio-diesel production, yielding as much as 10 times oil per hectare as compared to soybean.

Bio-diesel has been the energy sector's buzzword recently. Late last month, Finland's Neste Oil announced plans to build the world's biggest bio-diesel plant in Singapore for $1.2 billion. When ready in 2010, the Tuas plant will be able to produce 800,000 tonnes of bio-diesel a year.

Production is not the only area in which Singapore can play a part. Mr Gomide said: 'Singapore can work with bio-diesel, ethanol producers to distribute these products around the world and have tanks here to sell to several countries - a key export and logistics role.'

Brazil is one of the world's leading countries in renewable energy. Last year, renewable sources accounted for almost 45 per cent of all energy consumed there, as opposed to 14 per cent for the world.

Perhaps the most prominent sign of its successful renewable energy programme is the widespread use of flex-fuel cars - vehicles that can run on petrol, alcohol or any combination of the two.

This was highlighted by Mr Gomide during the talk. 'Flex-fuel cars are a fashionable thing in Brazil these days. If you don't own one, you'll want one. With a flex-fuel car, a consumer can choose. If the price of petrol continues to go up, you can switch to ethanol.'