loto, Akika

toladop:

The process of converting food to fuel is environmentally unfriendly. It causes more pollution than burning of conventional fuels

The process, and the actual fuel produce more pollution than conventional fuel. That is why the Bio-fuel hype seems to have faded here in the US. Bio-Fuel has a long way to go.

I still do not know why a country like Nigeria needs to, instead of investing in refineries, is delving bio-fuel production.

Good news though but i wonder how far they can go

@Topic,adigboloja fuel .
bad news for our cars

This is another pointless exercise. Why use food to power cars? Besides I thought it was a muslim state so are they allowed to produce ethanol but stop those of us that take alcohol from drinking it?

thehomer:

This is another pointless exercise. Why use food to power cars? Besides I thought it was a muslim state so are they allowed to produce ethanol but stop those of us that take alcohol from drinking it?

mumu, who told you that kaduna state is a muslim state? is Lagos state also a muslim state?? kaduna has 2 giant breweries, NB plc and IBBI.

That means theres going to be a ban on sugarcane eating ooo. I luv eating sugarcane

When will these leaders stop thinking from their bottoms

Infact am very very angry with this report It is no good news at all!

What will now happen to all my poor hapless Almajiris and mallams that eat sugar cane for their 3 square meals? When thier selfish Alhajis begins to mop up all the available sugar cane stock a la Brief case contractors to sell to the government?

Any body mooting the idea of using food to produce fuel in this country must be a vampire. We don't even have enough to feed.

Let them use the BILLIONS of naira they stash away to build a world class petro-refinery instead of glorying in the euphoria of investing paltry 15m to pauperize the already poor masses.

Don't let me lose my temper here,

Good for them. A lot their men are dying in Niger-Delta oil war and widowing a lot women. At most Abuja will be decongested and Niger-Delta demilitarised. Abi?

white elephant project. dead on arrival.

Though, biofuels are environmentally friendly, but if we look at the cascading effect on the availability of food in years to come, its really not worth it. FAO, UNICEF,etc are kicking against it because at the long run, it could cause food crisis. The quantity of corn that will be use to produce 50barrels of fuel can be use to feed the Nigerian populace for one year.
Energy is important, but can it be substituted for essentials such as food? What the world is leaving, we are embracing and It is better to look for an alternative means of producing energy. I rest my case.

a good step in the right direction, and sugar cane as raw material is a good concerpt cause it can be grown and harvested three times in a year, but i hope this no go make sugarcane cost for the common man

hey to me i'll say its a start? Lets start somewhere aferall the journey of a thousand steps begins with one step which is the first step. Ride on Kaduna na wetin person get e take dey make yanga

Sugarcane as an alternative to regular fuel? Tho' it sound kind of strange, methinks it's something worth experimenting. But the cost is making me think otherwise
Nice one there, Seun
I like it when people goof and admit it

Well, I congratulate Kaduna State but this is alesson for the other states. Each state should endeavour to
exploit any resource available for the good of all. They should not wait for the monthly allocation from Abuja.
This is one of the unfortunate offshoots of our adulterated federal system of government.

For the information of all, Brazil produces ehtanol fo domestic use and export. Ethanol in its pure form is not for
human consumption. Kaduna state is a state for both Muslims and Christians. Ethanol can be mixed in proportion with
petrol (PMS) to produce E10 which is suitable for use in automobiles. Ethanol can also be used in place of kerosine and it
burns to produce a blue hot flame , without soot. I have a sample of this stove and can confirm that at the last time
I checked, Ehthanol is about $0.37 per litre in Brazil and with firm negotiations, it could be lower if it is forexport.
There is the possibility of producing it at a lower cost and on a larger scale locally and that is the best option. In any case,
ethanol can be produced from wheat, maize, Cassava etc

Meanwhile, sugar cane is not "food" in the sense that some "educated" people think. Production in a larger scale is
possible all over the country. If so, I do not have any qualms if such people decide to convert it into "food".
Let them try it with cassava and we shall see if alarm no go blow, so which is better?

Honestly, all this sarcasm and display of ignorance is counterproductive. Anytime issues like these come up, we must put
our heads together and look at the brighter side of life. There are other threads in Nairaland where you can ventilate your prejudices
but not in this type of forum.

Lol, this is a bit amusing. Let us look at this properly, first of all those who are saying that there is no food hence people are starving and already available food should not be used, i don't think this is the issue. Correct me if i am wrong but i think availability of money to the poor to then use to buy food rather than just sugar cane is what the issue is. Now if sugar cane is going to be used for bio fuels i am guessing this will mean more business for sugar cane planters and hence more income for them to feed their family, hence i don't see what the arguement there is.

However, reading the ammount of money spent on sugar cane and manufacture, and all to produce what, 300litres of biofuels? I hope people are looking at this instead, try to picture what 300litres looks like, LOL. 300litres would be used for exactly how many cars? It is just completely ludacris and seems like another case of all motion and no movement kind of thinking. Countries like America, France, Germany, England, etc can afford to spend money on biofuels and other such ventures that are currently not cost effective but can Nigeria afford to? Are we going to deceive ourselves that Nigeria is swimming in money to burn when there is no power, good roads, security, etc? I would like to think that this was some country like America or England encouraging Africa to "go green" when such countries still depend heavily on fossil fuels, i would have liked to think this so that i could vent at the absurdity and hypocricy considering how much africa actually contributes to global pollution. But to think that this was a Nigerian leader's "bright idea" just really yet again discourages confidence in the ill gotten crop of leaders ruling the country. Has Nigeria suddenly run out of oil and gas? Why would you ask a woman swimming in fresh water to dehydrate because by drinking the water she might be offending the fishes?

thank God!

this is a giant stride!

easy does it. keep the tempo.

A number of people seem not to be happy with this development, anyway I congratulate the state government for this initiative and strongly believe if they strive to move forward long enouhg, they may end up discovering even better alternative to the conventional fuel at the moment.

This is from my understanding. I believe the reason why Brazil is able to dominate the sugar industry and ethanol industry at the same time is because they produce sugar from their cultivated sugar cane and produce ethanol from the sugar cane molasses. The molasses is pretty much byproduct from sugarcane, some people call it trash. Having said this… I don’t know what kind of technology they are using in Kaduna, but I will expect them to be producing their ethanol from Sugar cane Molasses and not the sugar cane itself.

nice idea, but in my opinion it has failed already!!!

N15 million for 100 litres per day, what is the daily consumption of the product for the entire residents of kaduna state?

lets assume 10,000 litres which of course is too little, where does it get us? they will need N15,000,000,000.00.

[size=18pt]thats fifteen billion!![/size] i guess it would be wiser to think of building a refinery.

the hard truth is there are a million alternative sources of fuel, but no government can sustain the cost, ALMIGHTY CRUDE OIL is still the father.

my conclusion, they should abandon that project .

Let’s all keep in mind; the so called ethanol is an additive to supplement fuel products. I believe this is initial stage and if the plan works well, there is always room for expansion. This is a one time investment that will generate revenue, and to expand the plant should demand increases will not cost that much compared to how much it cost to build the plant initially. Whether some heat exchanger bundles and separation equipments need to be modified or new ones needs to be installed in order to accommodate their target. The cost should justifies its means if they plan properly.

ohije:

A number of people seem not to be happy with this development, anyway I congratulate the state government for this initiative and strongly believe if they strive to move forward long enouhg, they may end up discovering even better alternative to the conventional fuel at the moment.

I think we should learn to separate good plans from good ideas. Bio-fuel is a good idea on it’s own but in an oil rich country like Nigeria, is it a good plan? Our government spends 8oo billion on fuel subsidies and the amount is expected to go up by next year, why? One of the main reasons is because we do not refine our own Petroleum products and not because there is a scarcity of oil.
Why are we spending millions on a couple of litres of bio-fuel? Is this so the north can gain independence from southern oil? If so, Ok,  but what about the extra costs that will follow? Increased pollution in the north where these plants are to be situated? Cost of large scale production of this fuel? Cost to outfit cars with technology to allow used of these fuels? Cost of transportation of these fuels? Cost to outfit gas stations so they can sell the fuel? Do we have enough money for this? Better yet, does the North have enough money for all this?
There is definitely the good side: job creation, education and skill training for more northerners in the area of bio-fuel technology, opportunity for farmers to get in on the deal. But it remains that the cost needs to be considered.
Speaking of farmers, I can almost see tomato farmers moving to sugar cane farming instead for the quick money and that may have a huge effect on the already low food supply system in the country.

Then we come down to the claim made by the article. How do you justify spending millions of naira on production of just 300 litres become a good plan? Does this include maintainance cost? If yes, PHEW!!! If no, MY GOSH!! I don’t think it is worth it. How much will it cost to produce 1 million gallons?  


And yes, even for it being an additive, large scale production is needed for it to be of use.

Kobojunkie:

I think we should learn to separate good plans from good ideas. Bio-fuel is a good idea on it’s own but in an oil rich country like Nigeria, is it a good plan? Our government spends 8oo billion on fuel subsidies and the amount is expected to go up by next year, why? One of the main reasons is because we do not refine our own Petroleum products and not because there is a scarcity of oil.
Why are we spending millions on a couple of litres of bio-fuel? Is this so the north can gain independence from southern oil? If so, Ok, but what about the extra costs that will follow? Increased pollution in the north where these plants are to be situated? Cost of large scale production of this fuel? Cost to outfit cars with technology to allow used of these fuels? Cost of transportation of these fuels? Cost to outfit gas stations so they can sell the fuel? Do we have enough money for this? Better yet, does the North have enough money for all this?
There is definitely the good side: job creation, education and skill training for more northerners in the area of bio-fuel technology, opportunity for farmers to get in on the deal. But it remains that the cost needs to be considered.
Speaking of farmers, I can almost see tomato farmers moving to sugar cane farming instead for the quick money and that may have a huge effect on the already low food supply system in the country.

Then we come down to the claim made by the article. How do you justify spending millions of naira on production of just 300 litres become a good plan? Does this include maintainance cost? If yes, PHEW!!! If no, MY GOSH!! I don’t think it is worth it. How much will it cost to produce 1 million gallons?


And yes, even for it being an additive, large scale production is needed for it to be of use.

I think their Idea, planning, initiatives are in the right direction, and they deserve commendation and support. There is demand for this product in Nigeria currently as additives for our petroleum product. Pretty much about 98% of our cars in Nigeria are designed to run on at least 85% gasoline with may be 15% ethanol, so how can we assume that their idea will be to gain independence from southern oil…we all know that is not possible yet. The idea is not to replace gasoline with ethanol…but to reduce the dependent on imported ethanol that are used as additives.

Spending 15 million to produce 300 lit/day is pretty much the same as when you invest $2 billion on floating vessel in order to produce 100,000 barrels of oil /day from oil rig. So what is the problem? This is a one time capital investment except for when expansion sets in.

courage89:

I think their Idea, planning, initiatives are in the right direction, and they deserve commendation and support. There is demand for this product in Nigeria currently as additives for our petroleum product. Pretty much about 98% of our cars in Nigeria are designed to run on at least 85% gasoline with may be 15% ethanol, so how can we assume that their idea will be to gain independence from southern oil…we all know that is not possible yet. The idea is not to replace gasoline with ethanol…but to reduce the dependent on imported ethanol that are used as additives.

Spending 15 million to produce 300 lit/day is pretty much the same as when you invest $2 billion on floating vessel in order to produce 100,000 barrels of oil /day from oil rig. So what is the problem? This is a one time capital investment except for when expansion sets in.

Read the article a bit more carefuly or perhaps i read it wrong?

Kaduna produces fuel from sugarcane


17.09.2008

THE Kaduna State government has commenced the production of fuel from sugarcane in an effort to develop alternative source of energy. The Commissioner for Science and Technology, Dr Sani Bello, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Monday in Kaduna that the pilot plant was producing 100 litres of bio-ethanol per day.


Bello said the state had spent over N15 million to build the project, adding that the government would expand the plant production to 300 litres per day soon.


He said the state government was also experimenting the use of maize and cassava as part of raw materials for the project. Bello said the current fuel grade after it was blended with petroleum product was 99.9 per cent bio-ethanol.


“We started with E10, which gave 10 per cent bio-ethanol and 90 per cent fuel and later E100, meaning 100 per cent bio-ethanol. “The product has been tested on internal combustion engine and yielded a good result,” Bello said.


The commissioner said the state government had also concluded plans to commence a bio-diesel pilot project through the use of jatropher plant. Bello stressed that the plant, when completed, would be producing over 300 litres of the commodity per day.


NAN learnt that over N90 million would be spent on the bio-diesel pilot project, which would soon take-off.

'

courage89:

I think their Idea, planning, initiatives are in the right direction, and they deserve commendation and support. There is demand for this product in Nigeria currently as additives for our petroleum product. Pretty much about 98% of our cars in Nigeria are designed to run on at least 85% gasoline with may be 15% ethanol,

WHAT THE?? How did you get this?? I mean how do you know 98% of the cars in Nigeria are designed to run on at least 85% gasoline and at least 15% ethanol? I am shocked and would like to know how you got this information.

courage89:

. . .  so how can we assume that their idea will be to gain independence from southern oil…we all know that is not possible yet. The idea is not to replace gasoline with ethanol…but to reduce the dependent on imported ethanol that are used as additives.

Well…. I did not assume that is their idea but suggested it may be a possible reason for this project. However, it could be possible that the north does want it’s own energy resource so it can cut it’s ties to the south considering the continued commotion over oil and now the Niger Delta situation that does not seem to be going away anytime soon.

courage89:

Spending 15 million to produce 300 lit/day is pretty much the same as when you invest $2 billion on floating vessel in order to produce 100,000 barrels of oil /day from oil rig. So what is the problem? This is a one time capital investment except for when expansion sets in.

Actually, it is not the same. I don’t know how you came to the conclusion that it is but I have to say I do not agree. As Skyblue already pointed out, this is just for test production.

courage89:

This is from my understanding. I believe the reason why Brazil is able to dominate the sugar industry and ethanol industry at the same time is because they produce sugar from their cultivated sugar cane and produce ethanol from the sugar cane molasses. The molasses is pretty much byproduct from sugarcane, some people call it trash. Having said this… I don’t know what kind of technology they are using in Kaduna, but I will expect them to be producing their ethanol from Sugar cane Molasses and not the sugar cane itself.

Well said jo. i wonder wat the problem is with those that are not happy with the development. thank God they are not going to convert rice, corn and guinea corn into ethanol. I like the kaduna initiative, it makes sense.

Well said jo. i wonder what the problem is with those that are not happy with the development. thank God they are not going to convert rice, corn and guinea corn into ethanol. I like the kaduna initiative, it makes sense.

90million naira for 300 litres a day(not considering production costs) makes sense to you? they would have been better off giving the money as grants to schools researching alternative energy sources. the production costs of ethanol remains higher than that of gasoline. this could interest u guys

http://www.business-standard.com/india/storypage.php?autono=333171

Kobojunkie:

WHAT THE?? How did you get this?? I mean how do you know 98% of the cars in Nigeria are designed to run on at least 85% gasoline and at least 15% ethanol? I am shocked and would like to know how you got this information.

This is an assumption that I made based on the NNPC’s report that came out couple of months ago. The report stated that some petroleum marketing company imported bad fuel into the country (E20). They quarantined their vessel because of detrimental effect those petroleum products posed to our cars.

May be the number (85%) is a little high, but you get my drift.
I understand that our cars are now coming from different part of the world right now, including Brazil that runs (E100).

Kobojunkie:

Actually, it is not the same. I don’t know how you came to the conclusion that it is but I have to say I do not agree. As Skyblue already pointed out, this is just for test production.

Yes, even if it’s a test production. It makes business sense.

The N15 million will be factored as sunk cost and should be recovered during operation assuming the money is meant for their feasibility study. For every long term investment, you have sunk cost here and there (including floating vessel for crude oil production).

here is some info about the jatropha plant.

India’s enthusiasm for biofuel may seem odd only months after the country’s finance minister described conversion of food crops into biofuel as “a crime against humanity.” But D1-BP and Roshini point out that their favoured crops need not compete with food crops for land or water. Both are hardy plants that can grow on dry, stony soil. S.K. Kothari, Roshini’s technical director, says 150 acres of pongamia requires only as much water as a single acre of traditional crops.

But sceptics say these crops take too long to bear fruit and their yield is unreliable. Jatropha reaches full maturity in its fourth or fifth year; pongamia in its ninth. It is not easy to convince small farmers to devote care and attention to an untried crop which takes so long to provide a return. But without such care, especially in the crop’s infancy, the yield will disappoint, confirming the farmers’ doubts.

The answer lies in agronomy and sociology. Roshini has painstakingly accumulated a “gene bank” of high-yielding mother trees. Stems from these fecund plants can be grafted onto 200-300 saplings, which will then inherit the mother tree’s desirable properties, fruiting earlier and more reliably.

Breeding confidence and commitment in the farmers is, however, just as important. They require a lot of “handholding”, says Samiran Das of D1-BP. His firm has tried to generate a “community feeling” around its projects. For example, it has hired Dukhiya Yadav, the head of a village self-help group, to collect seeds from the farmers and sort the bad from the good, for half a rupee per kilogram. That gives her a stake in the farmers’ success.

which naija agbe wan wait for 4years

courage89:

This is an assumption that I made based on the NNPC’s report that came out couple of months ago. The report stated that some petroleum marketing company imported bad fuel into the country (E20). They quarantined their vessel because of detrimental effect those petroleum products posed to our cars.

May be the number (85%) is a little high, but you get my drift.
I understand that our cars are now coming from different part of the world right now, including Brazil that runs (E100).

Yes, even if it’s a test production. It makes business sense.

The N15 million will be factored as sunk cost and should be recovered during operation assuming the money is meant for their feasibility study. For every long term investment, you have sunk cost here and there (including floating vessel for crude oil production).

So basically if i am getting this correctly you are saying that the aim is to produce ethanol to be used as an additive for fuel which the country imports from others? So the fuel imported from foreign countries that probably have no crude oil but have refineries, don't these already contain ethanol additives? This is the point i keep driving at, i don't see how this could be more cost effective than investing in a refinery? Is this a joke or some experimant for a science class to show that "it can be done"? LOL. Even if it is being used as an additive, are we all picturing what 300litres looks like?